True North
by The Very Last Valkyrie
Summary: Alice Brandon moves to Forks with very low expectations, and nothing happens to change her mind. But Alice can't help feeling irresistibly drawn to the handsome, aloof Jasper Hale, and wondering whether she's really found her true direction after all...
1. Preface

_**I love Twilight. I adore Twilight. But Stephenie's characters are insisting I write my story this way. So don't blame me for stealing your characters, Steph. They TOLD me to. So here it is. Alice in Bella's place. No clumsiness, no timidness, more attitude, which does not impress her honey blond lab partner whatsoever...**_**

* * *

Preface**

I had never been more scared.

At the same time, I had never been happier.

I could save _him_ from all this. All my adversary wanted was me. It was only me he desired. All he wanted was to end the warm pulse of blood beneath my skin.

More than that.

He wanted to taste it.

But _he_ wouldn't have to be here. _He_ wouldn't have to see my dark eyes widen with fear, hear my heart race, exasperating me with its eagerness to reach the last beat.

I focused my mind on _his_ perfect, flawless face.

I remembered that I could keep _him_ safe, for all eternity.

I smiled a little, pulling my trembling lips back over my teeth, as if the following steps would not take me towards an afterlife I didn't want, not without _him_. But _he_ had to stay alive.

And _he_ would remember me with love.

I sauntered forward to meet my executioner.


	2. Phrasing Does Not Help

**

* * *

1. Phrasing Does Not Help**

I stared gloomily out of the car window at the rain coming down, heavy and hard. There was no way I could be optimistic about the situation – I'd be pale as a ghost within weeks.

Forks, Olympic Peninsula, Washington State.

_Forks_, Olympic Peninsula, Washington State.

Forks, _Olympic Peninsula_, Washington State.

Forks, Olympic Peninsula, _Washington State._

No matter how many ways I rolled the phrase around my tongue, it didn't taste any better. It tasted blandly inoffensive, like a dry cracker.

I thought of my old home. _Phoenix_. The mythical fire bird who resurrects itself time after time, rising from the ashes to a brand new life.

This was my new life. But I wasn't rising from the ashes. I was perching precariously on the top, waiting at any minute to sink deep into the choking gray dust. And stay there.

I flipped open my phone and texted Sara back in Arizona:

_Hve been kdnappd. Call 911, UN, or simlar _:-(

If I'd been at home, I would've had Gym. I like Gym, I was good at Gym. For someone so tiny I could shoot a hoop better than most of the guys in my class. Like Jake Hoffman. Sigh…

Oh yeah, that was the other reason I was pissed. Not only had I been moved like, a million miles cross country, but I had also missed my chance with Jake…Hoffman! My parents had taken me away from seeing Jake's blue eyes (bluer than swimming pools, I swear) and his gorgeous dark hair every day.

I am almost 100% sure the guy was an undercover _model_, sent to our school after some wild partying and bad press. Or a bourgeois artist, searching for his true muse in the mire of high school…sigh.

I recalled the conversation in which my parents had torn me away (figuratively, at least) from the arms of my (figurative) beloved.

Mom: _"Alice, now your father's stint at his job has ended, the company have given him a new posting."_

Me: _"I hope it's somewhere close. I don't want to have to travel far to borrow money – kidding, Dad."_

Dad:_ "Well honey, they're actually sending me to…Washington State."_

Me:_ "That's too bad. But you'll be able to visit, right?"_

Mom: _"Well, actually Alice, sweetie, we're all going! A brand new start for us, in this quaint little town, Forks it's called, surrounded by green forests and rolling hills and –"_

Me: _"No. Frickin'. Way."_

I lost that argument, obviously. Despite going on a hunger strike and having to be hospitalized. My mom said that moving to a new place would _'Help me sort out those temper issues of mine, in the quiet of nature.'_

I didn't want quiet. I didn't want calm. I wanted the noise and bustle of Phoenix where the heat reflecting off the sidewalk blinded you and the palm trees stood in military rows on either side of the freeway.

My phone bleeped.

_Gng 2 th mvies wth Jake. Gtg & gt rdy sry. Dnt mnd do u??? Luv u xxx_

No. Frickin'. Way.

Well, it was clear I had no _friends_ back at home. _Dnt mnd do u???_ How could I not mind? She knew I liked him, she knew, she knew…

I chanted this like a mantra as we drove past a hokey 'Welcome To Forks' sign. It appeared that we had arrived in Hicksville…and I really, really wished it was Arizona.

We followed the curving road, Dad snoozing over the wheel, and Mom occasionally yanking it back into place.

* * *

Eventually we bowled up outside a _tiny_ house with a handkerchief sized square of garden. Dad parked on the kerb (with a little help from Mom) and I stretched, ready for the long hours of fetching, carrying and 'settling in' that would follow. Huh. Me? Settle in? I didn't think so.

"What is that?" I asked. I'd just noticed the ancient red truck, quietly rusting away in the drive.

"Happy seventeenth honey!" Mom enthused, prodding Dad to bring him out of the funk of sleep he was still clinging to. He stretched (almost hitting Mom) and we piled out into the icy rain. "You've been going on about getting a car for a while, and I thought it would be best to get one locally, so I rang around and found you this! Isn't it perfect?"

Perfect was not the word I would've chosen to describe _The Thing_ (insert creepy horror movie music). What about all my daydreams? A red M3 convertible…a black Mercedes…that yellow Porsche that was so beautiful I'd almost drooled on the picture.

"Grab your stuff Alice," Mom trilled. "Moving in time!"

My room needed a makeover. It was pale blue with light wood floorboards, sort of nice in an insipid way. But not very _me_. I would stain the floor darker, I decided. Take down those tacky lace curtains and get some blinds. Do God knows what with the walls.

I shoved my boxes into the nooks and crannies of my cupboard bedroom and rushed downstairs. Dinner was cold McDonald's, purchased several hours ago secretly by Mom as a 'treat'.

I put mine in the microwave, ignoring Dad's 'salmonella' protests, and went to try and unpack.

I'd had to leave my furniture at home – very annoying, as I'd picked it out especially from the store. The tiny rickety wardrobe didn't look like it could hold even _half_ my clothes. The way Forks looked, if I wanted a bigger one I'd have to hack down some trees myself and make a project of it. Huh.

That didn't sound too bad. Except for oh, you know, the splinters, the sawdust, the calluses, the mess, the smell, the health and safety issues…

I managed to locate a plug socket that looked like it hadn't been used since its invention and plugged in my stereo, running a cable along the floor to my mp3 docking station for some music.

Evanescence blared through the room. Yes, I was being morbid. But I was stuck in this hick town with no mod cons, no friends, and I was pretty sure no good fashion outlets for at least a million miles.

I was seriously contemplating suicide.

I collapsed on the hard (single) bed and winced, wondering how long it would take for me to go stir crazy.

* * *

Then I was woken by my mom shaking me.

"Alice? Honey? You'll have to get up now if you want to shower before school."

"But. It's. Dark." There was no way it was time for school yet. There was no light slanting in the windows, just a murky green glow.

Great. Now I'm in Lord of the Rings.

I rolled off the bed, feeling disgusting. My mouth was all fuzzy after not brushing my teeth last night, my clothes were all crumpled as I hadn't changed last night, and my stomach was roaring at not having been fed last night.

Shower first.

I let the spray run for several minutes to get it to a good temperature, and then stepped into the stall.

It was freezing.

"Frick!" I screamed. They obviously hadn't turned on the hot water yet.

I stood for about a minute and a half under the icy jet before switching it off and drying myself, trying to warm myself up by rubbing my limbs vigorously.

It didn't work.

For school I dressed in a forest green ruffled blouse and khakis, something I would've worn in Phoenix in _December_.

It was only just May.

I swear I was already becoming paler. My foundation seemed too peachy, the natural lipstick too bright now. With a sigh I added a little blush to my cheeks and grabbed my bag.

I was up to bat.


	3. I Am An Unknown Entity

**

* * *

2. I Am An Unknown Entity**

I refused to drive the decrepit truck to school. I wanted to make a _slightly_ better impression than it would instill in people.

I almost drove straight past Forks High School (in Mom's BMW, thank God). I could've mistaken it for some part of the suburbia that constantly battled against the green forest. The buildings were squattish, squarish, and made of maroon brick. Gag.

My mom had instructed me to go to the one labeled 'Front Office'. The one nearest me had a label reading 'Front Office'. Huh. I parked up in front of it (though I was pretty sure that that word painted on the blacktop was 'RESTRICTED'), and headed for the door.

The long counter that separated the room like the blade of a guillotine almost _dripped_ with plant life.

"Yeah," I muttered to myself. "Because you can't get enough of it outside…"

"Can I help you?"

The woman who was asking was in her late thirties, early forties, with frizzy red hair and a purple tee way too small for her. She could use some serious highlights. Or a wig.

I am proud to say I strolled up to the counter as if I were Forks, born and bred.

"I'm Alice Brandon. I'm new."

"Alice! Welcome to Forks!" I had never seen quite so much enthusiasm before.

"Um…thanks."

"Here's your schedule," Blue piece of paper.

"Book list," Red piece of paper.

"Teachers' review," Several strips of hot pink paper.

"And map!" Phew. Plain industrial ol' white. I'd never much cared about the plight of the trees before, but I probably would've become a full blown hippie if she'd continued. Forks sure did have a lot of woodland.

So many trees, so little time…I was definitely going to leave my mark on this place. If that took the form of deforestation, so be it.

"You bring those pink slips back to me at the end of the day, honey. And class started…um…" She checked her watch. "Five minutes ago! Off you go!"

If it was an entrance I wanted, it was an entrance I was going to get. I jogged across campus, flinging the door to building 2 open just as the teacher called my name.

"Present!"

And the room went quiet.

I handed one of the pink slips to the teacher and wove my way down the aisle to an empty seat at the back.

Senora Goff looked at me quizzically. "Alice? Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?"

I stood up, scraping my chair back across the linoleum. I didn't care about scuff marks. I didn't care about the teacher, or a single hormone fueled adolescent in this stinking class.

"Hey guys. I'm Alice. I'm from Phoenix. I hate the cold, the wet, the quiet and trees. So you might say I'm living in my own personal hell right now. I took this class so that I don't forget what sunshine looks like, and I hear there are some very good pictures of it in the textbook. Have a nice day."

I repeated this in Spanish (showing off a little), and collapsed down into my chair, crossing my legs and smirking a little at the dumbstruck faces around me. I was _good_.

The boy at the next desk along snickered as Senora Goff began her lecture.

"Excuse me?" I glared at him; a death scowl I was sure would make at least half the class faint once I added it to my arsenal.

He didn't even blink. He just arched an eyebrow incredulously. His face was uncannily beautiful, and beautifully pale. "If you want to see the sun, buy a travel brochure."

My mouth dropped open. How could he…who did he…what was he…well, obviously, he didn't see the sun much.

"And if you want an argument," I shot back, "Go and find someone of your own intellectual capacity. I'm sure there are a lot of very loquacious elk around these parts."

"Maybe you should find someone who shares your disposition. I'm sure there are a lot of green eyed, spitting cats _around these parts_." His last few words dripped with sarcasm.

Quick Alice, retort, retort…something witty…something to send him reeling…something –

"My eyes are black!" I snarled.

Oh. My. God. I did not just point that out to him. I had a better comeback, at this point I am hallucinating, floating through a dark blue sky…

He was staring at me in disbelief, a strand of honey blond hair falling into his eyes. Huh. Black too. Oh crap. I was not hallucinating. Take two…

"And I don't like cats, either."

Then I turned back to the chalkboard and pretended to be very interesting in the conjugation of _ser_ in all its myriad forms. That was it. The minute this guy told his friends, all my credibility would be gone. Gone!

* * *

I went through English in a haze. Not only was I the freaky new girl from the big city, I had arrived late, back chatted my teacher, yelled at the other students and lost an argument to that blond haired guy. I was done for.

"Alice – do you wanna have lunch with us?" I looked up from dissertation on Brontë I was sliding into my bag to read later. The blonde girl who I shared the desk with obviously had guts to face me after this morning. What was her name?

"I'm Lauren, by the way," Ah. So she hadn't told me. That was good.

I followed her to the cafeteria and into the concession line. She picked a minimalistic lunch – salad, fruit, mineral water – while I was feeling depressed. My tray played host to pizza, chili fries, chocolate milk and an ice cream sandwich.

I would regret this when my jeans didn't fit.

Lauren and I sat down at one end of a table that seemed to encompass all kinds of cliques.

The boy next to me – cute, blond, baby face – looked up in interest.

"Alice Brandon?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm Mike Newton." He said, sticking out a hand. I could fill in the gaps his introduction had left. School lothario, track star…I checked under the table. Yup. Squeaky clean running shoes.

Something in the corner of the room drew my eye. I looked up to see the guy from Spanish staring at me. I smiled grimly.

"Nice to meet you, Mike," I said, placing my hand in his and squeezing it gently. He gulped. Ha. Then I turned to Lauren.

"_Who_ are _they_?" I asked. Even with a fleeting glance, I had still noticed the people clustered around my adversary. Two gorgeous boys, besides Mr. Harlow Honey…one dark and muscled, the other leaner with tousled bronze hair. Two girls, one dark and the other fair. All pale. And all heartbreakingly beautiful.

Lauren smiled. "Those are the Cullens. And the Hales." She matched them up for me with her fingers.

"Emmett Cullen," The dark guy with the incredible physique.

"Edward Cullen," The boy with the strange hair.

"Jasper Hale," My argument buddy.

"Rosalie Hale," The blonde girl whose perfect face hurt my eyes.

"And Isabella Cullen. Bella." The last seemed a little more reticent than the others, hiding behind a curtain of brown hair when she noticed my gaze. The one named Edward reached out and wrapped one of her slim pale hands in both of his, cradling it like it was a holy relic.

Couple number one. Edward and Bella. But weren't they related?

The one named Emmett reached out with startling speed to catch one of Rosalie's books as it slipped off the table. His face showed genuine concern.

Ah. Couple number two.

"Aren't Edward and Bella related?" I asked. Being liberal was one thing, but…

"Oh no. None of them are, except Rosalie and Jasper. Twins. They were all adopted by Dr. Cullen and his wife. He works up at the hospital. And they all _live together_."

She was obviously trying to shock me, but hey. This was my new persona. Alice Brandon, the unshockable.

Jasper raised his head and looked at me again. He grinned, and I knew he was remembering our earlier conversation.

I gritted my teeth.

"So Mike," I said, turning. "Do you run for the school?"


	4. Much Ado About Something

_**I'm very sorry to everyone who received a preview of what might be the meadow scene, because in the attached message it said that this chapter would contain the car crash. Suffice to say it doesn't. C'mon, this is Alice we're talking about. She goes in a different direction to what I wanna do. But I promise - next chapter, there will be the crash, because I have written it. Yup. Yesiree. Here we go.**_**

* * *

3. ****Much Ado About Something**

Closer inspection found Mike to be somewhat lacking. He was a sweet, pretty guy, but there was something so generic about him that having a conversation with him was like bandying words with an automaton.

Lauren also was a disappointment. She was as spiteful and jealous as my supposed alter ego, the green eyed cat. I listened to her, day after day, pouring out story after story and lie after lie about our classmates. Someone had had too much to drink and done something stupid, so-and-so was cheating on their boyfriend with "Oh, you know him, don't you Alice? Third from the right in Spanish?"

I've never been very fond of bitchy people. Sarcastic, I may be, but I try to keep my poison internal. Lauren, on the other hand, sprayed hers around like a cobra.

I found that the quieter people on my lunch table usually had nicer things to say. Quietly optimistic Angela Weber defended a girl with weight problems and a boy with a drug addiction; whereas chess club Eric gave Lauren a good dressing down for picking on a girl who'd lost her mother the previous year.

I saw Jasper, of course. I had way too many classes with him for my peace of mind, far too many chances to engage in the satirical exchanges that were daily for me in Phoenix.

He seemed to be the only thing in Forks that was…other. He was not bland because he always had things to say. He was not a carbon copy of the other students because he wasn't like them. He didn't move like them, eat like them, talk like them or walk like them.

But still he annoyed the hell outta me, refusing to back down, refusing to be pressed into any kind of stereotypical mold, and never thawing the frosty shield of sarcasm which existed between the two of us.

I wasn't that I liked him; in fact, I _dis_liked him far too much to form any attachment. But he fascinated me in rare and strange ways which had me staying up late at night, wondering about him. Which was not good. Which was bordering on obsession. About a guy I didn't even like.

* * *

We had Bio together too, and I slid into the seat that flanked his with no thought in my mind except to ignore him completely. I was in a black mood. Lauren had been slacking down Jessica all lunch.

Jessica was a small and bubbly girl, below my below average height. Her dark curls bounced in every direction, and her very aura seemed exuberant, and vitalized. She had a crush on Mike, of course.

Poor Jess had almost been in tears when Lauren was through chiding her about her unrequited love (Mike had been off doing something track related). The one time I had tried to do anything, I had gotten those looks. The ones that say _you're new here. You don't understand the situation_.

I felt like a giraffe in with the wombats.

"Today," Mr. Banner began, "We are going to be testing whitefish blastula. Without books, you will identify the stages of mitosis and write them – " He indicated a worksheet. "Here. I have a splitting headache and if _anyone_," His eyes scanned the class. "Is too rowdy or too rude, you will be out of here tout suite. Let's go, people."

Silently I grabbed a microscope and a sheet while Jasper carefully removed a box of slides from their shelf.

"Fancy starting…partner?" He said, with a sly grin. The top of my head felt like it was about to fly off. I'd already done this lab back at home, and I was sure I could remember what each phase looked like.

I rifled through the box and selected one at random before sliding it under the lens and taking a quick peek.

"Interphase," I said casually.

"You barely looked at it."

"I said it's interphase."

His cold (Jeez, it was freezing!) hand clamped down over mine and turned the microscope towards him.

"Interphase," He said, scowling.

Ha.

"Trust me yet?"

"I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you."

"And how far is that?"

He considered. "I don't know. I'm a pretty good pitcher." He grinned at me, and I felt a smile stretch my face. It was like when a baby laughs; you can't help joining in too.

"You're still holding my hand," I pointed out, and he drew it back like a whip crack.

"Cold hands," I commented.

"Poor circulation," He replied.

By the end of the lesson, my attitude toward him was just that little bit less chilly. I had seen that he did have another side, when he took the time to show it. It just took some hunting. I wondered if that bothered him at all.

I made my way to the gym, feeling as if the black clouds swirling around my head had been tinged slightly whiter by my triumph – a civil conversation with Jasper Hale.

* * *

Good days do not last. Not in Forks. When I got home my mom was curled on the sofa, crying.

"It's your Grandma Marie," She said, wiping her eyes with a wad of peach colored tissue. "She had a heart attack and died while you were at school."

I felt walls I hadn't even known were built against my floodgates wash away. When I sank down on the floor and cried, it wasn't just for Grandma Marie. It was for me, and for Forks, and for Jasper, for Jess and Lauren and Mike. I cried for Phoenix, and for Sara who was living the life I could've had. I cried for Jake who was not a part of my life anymore.

When I was done, I felt oddly healed. Oddly light, as if the weight of all that saltwater had been holding me down, anchoring me to the Earth. Mom too had got over the weeping and wailing stage and turned businesslike.

"I've told your Uncle Charlie that I don't think you should come down for the funeral. It's in about a week's time, and all that moving around would just uproot you. So your father's on compassionate leave and he and I are going to go for the week, starting tomorrow. Charlie's always been useless with organizing details, and we need to send your grandma off in style."

She looked at me, evaluating my tear streaked face. "Will you be okay on your own, baby?"

Just bored to tears.

"Sure, Ma. I've got work to do, and maybe I'll go see a movie or something with one of the cafeteria crowd."

"That's my girl. Just remember, wherever your grandmother is, she would've wanted you to be happy."

So take me back to Arizona.

"I know. I'll be fine. Promise. Scout's honor." I held up my fingers in the salute I still remembered (despite being thrown out for improper use of fire) and smiled at my mom. Her face relaxed a little.

"Well okay, honey. I'm just gonna go and start packing, but dinner's in the oven for when you need it."

As she clomped upstairs in the wedges that were too young for a middle aged woman, I realized I would miss my Grandma Marie, I would miss her letters, the elegant handwriting getting more and more shaky every year. The cake I always received, mail order on my birthday, rain or shine.

She had been a wonderful woman, and I would miss her like crazy.

With that thought in my mind, I cried silent tears into my meatloaf as I thought about the dwindling of my family.

I went to bed soon after that, worn out with emotional and physical stress (badminton really takes it out of a girl). I tried to ease up my window to get some air, but the rotten frame was swollen with rainwater and wouldn't budge.

Instead, I lit a candle that smelt like bitter apple, and curled under my blankets in the fetal position, head whirling, and dreams snapping at the edges of my mind, ready to letta rip the moment I closed my eyes.

The dreams that night were not pleasant, nor were they unpleasant. I woke at midnight, slept, dreamed, woke again at three and finally sunk into a deep, dreamless sleep that took me all the way through to the next morning without even a peep from my subconscious.


	5. Lauren Will Freak Out

**_Does anyone know how annoying it is to bust your guts writing and then get no reviews whatsoever? Or barely any, anyhoo. So, dear readers, I'm having to resort to blackmail. The next chapter will not be coming your way anytime soon unless you give in to my demands! You have been warned.  
Happy Halloween._**

* * *

**4. Lauren Will Freak Out  
**

Crying is most therapeutic. Broken sleep, however, is not. I was so out of balance that I ended up starting up the old red truck and hightailing it out of the driveway. Before I knew it, I was at Forks High. In a truck that could've belonged to my grandfather.

Driving had been hard, and when I arrived I realized why. The road surface was slick with black ice, occasionally and mercifully fading to white. Treacherous. On Forks' winding roads, maybe deadly.

But nevertheless, I was singing along with the cheesy pop that had just finished on the truck's aged radio as I climbed out, stepping carefully to avoid the ice slick.

"You sing?" A voice asked, with a quiet music in the tone all its own. I jumped a foot in the air and had to cling to the wing mirror on landing as my feet skidded around. A hand whose cold I could feel even through my parka pulled me up straight and held me there with a grip like iron.

Jasper coolly appraised me from on high (well, six three), waiting for something. Oh, yeah, okay, my answer.

"It was an illusion." I glared at him. "You heard only your subconscious…"

"My subconscious doesn't sing Britney Spears."

"You know something?" I said, wishing for a stepladder so I could look him in the eye. I stand at about four foot ten, so there was over a foot separating us. I barely came up to his chest. "I wish you would make up your mind!"

"About what?"

"About me. One minute you treat me like a leper, the next like an equal and then suddenly I slide back into my leprous ways. What gives?"

"You do," He said, after a long moment of thought. "You seem like one of life's takers but when you get riled up you give like no one else I've ever met. You see things in people that others don't. You stand up for people. It's fascinating."

"Hooray for Doctor Freud," I muttered.

He muttered something. It almost sounded like, "What I wouldn't give to get in your head…"

"What's changed?" I asked as we began walking. "Why were you so…before?"

"Do you have any idea how annoying you are for such a small person?" He asked, rolling his eyes. "You seem arrogant, rude, selfish and self centered. But you prove yourself to be smart, caring and resourceful. You stick with Lauren, even though you don't like her so you can have a niche. A niche from which you can defend with that sharp tongue of yours." He chuckled.

The conversation might have gone further if his head hadn't whipped around then. After a second, I heard it too. A screeching, shrieking, wail of a noise, coming towards us. Fast.

Tyler Crowley's van came spinning around the corner like a hockey puck, while Tyler inside was smashing into every available surface. And in about a second, Jasper and I were going to be mown down.

I didn't even have to look at him before he'd floored me, hitting my head on the icy blacktop and crushing the air from my lungs with his body weight as Tyler's out of control van whooshed over us.

As it went, it seemed to me that he grabbed onto the tailgate and halted the whole thing, dragging the van back so we were under it once more. But then, I had hit my head pretty hard.

His eyes were a different color today – a sort of dark gold, like honey. They were fierce as they scanned my face, looking for any signs of injury caused by his impromptu rescue attempt.

That was when the smell began. We all know it. Warm, acidic, metallic…the smell of the red humor, sanguine – blood.

His jaw clenched tight as a vise as the smell swirled around us in the close confines of our current situation.

And I do tend to faint at the sight (or smell, in fact) of blood. So it was no surprise when the world began to dissolve in a series of rainbow colored Catherine Wheels in the darkness, Jasper's face hanging like a pale moon above me.

"Jasper," I said dreamily, as the wheels began to spin faster and faster.

"Yes?"

"Your eyes are a pretty color today."

The wheels spun faster and faster until they spun into a black oblivion, taking me with them.

* * *

When I woke up, everything was white and light, and my mother was sitting by my bedside.

"How am I supposed to leave you like this? The plane is _this afternoon_!" She howled; face crumpling when she saw I was awake.

I remembered why she was going to leave. Grandma Marie's funeral.

"Mom, you have to go!" I said urgently. "Now more than ever. You know me; the less fuss there is the better. And you know Uncle Charlie can't organize a Slip 'n' Slide, let alone a shindig to send Grandma off with a bang! You have to go."

"But I have to stay with you, I – "

It was then that Dr. Cullen entered. I knew he must be Jasper's father immediately. The perfect pale skin, the golden eyes, the movie star good looks, the impeccable timing…hold on there. Had I just said 'movie star good looks' when comparing someone to Jasper? Crap.

"Mrs. Brandon, I presume?" He asked, checking my chart with a fluid movement of his wrist. "And how are you feeling, Alice? You gave my son quite a scare."

"What?" spluttered my mother. "Alice – your son – there – here – huh?"

Dr. Cullen, bless him, gave her a soothing pat on the back of the hand.

"Fret not, Mrs. Brandon. I was simply to referring to the fact that my son was there at the time. He witnessed the whole thing."

"More than that," I said, sitting up and wishing I hadn't. "Jasper was the one who took me down – y'know, stopped the van from hitting me straight on. It just went right over our heads."

Dr. Cullen muttered something – it was clearly a family trait. It might've been, "Well he didn't tell _me_ that." Then he replaced my chart and continued in the easygoing vein of earlier.

"You didn't hurt anything too badly Alice – head wounds always gush, unfortunately – but if you're worried about leaving her, Mrs. Brandon, I believe I have the perfect solution."

He whipped a pink leaflet from the pocket of his lab coat and handed it to her. My mom studied it as I peered over her shoulder.

_At Home Minders_, the leaflet read. _Recovering from an accident? Recuperating from an operation? No one at home to help? Then Forks & County Hospital has the solution. Our At Home Minders have formal medical training to suit your needs, and with a range of age groups available, we're sure we can find someone to suit you. For more information, ask for Dr. Carlisle Cullen._

"This sounds excellent," Mom said, smiling. "How do we go about applying?"

"There is no need. I have already had a volunteer."

"Already?!" shrieked my mother (oh God). "Why, Alice, you are popular! And what exactly would this minder do?"

"Well, in Alice's case, the minder would get her to and from school, help with any chores that need to be done, make sure she takes her pain meds, and watch her overnight if needs be. And with a risk of concussion, I would say needs _must_. Do you have a spare room? A couch? Our minders aren't picky."

"Well," My mom replied, effervescent and fizzing, "Whoever it was could sleep in your room, couldn't they honey? It would be like one big slumber party! And they wouldn't really be watching you if they couldn't see you at night. At _all_ times."

She seemed to tire for a minute, and then she said, "Well, who is this minder, Dr. Cullen? I want to meet this admirable he or she at once!"

At her words, Dr. Cullen raised his fingers to his lips and gave a piercing whistle that had half the patients bolt upright in their beds looking for the fire.

Jasper Hale stepped through the door. Smiling.

"Mrs. Brandon," said Dr. Cullen, with an expansive sweep of his hand. "I'd like to introduce you to Jasper Hale, the youngest and best trained volunteer minder this hospital has to offer!"


	6. I Was Not Prepared For This

**_This chapter is dedicated to Kari Twilight Mist, for a truly wonderful review, and to my best friend Hannah for donating me that fateful 40p. My love and hugs to you both._****

* * *

5. ****I Was Not Prepared For This**

I was trying very hard not to faint, throw up, or throw objects. Jasper was smirking at me. Again. He had just forfeited his right to a comfortable stay. Actually, he forfeited that by _applying_.

"You are not," I said, forcing the words out between my locked teeth. "Coming anyway near my house."

"Alice!" My mother said, shocked. "You mustn't be so rude to the young man who not only saved you, but who is also being so kind in volunteering himself to take care of you!"

"Trust me, Mom. If he comes through our door, _I_ will take care of _him_."

Jasper's only retaliation was another grin and a formal introduction to my mother.

"Hello, Mrs. Brandon," He said, turning the full force of those fabulous eyes on her, and injecting another layer of musicality into his tone. "I'm Jasper Hale. Alice and I have Biology together. And English. And Spanish, for that matter. We also have the same homeroom."

I began trying to see if I could project my thoughts at him. _You are so going down, Hale_, I thought, pushing with my mind. _I'm gonna bury you in the yard so I can dance on your grave whenever the mood takes me_.

I obviously missed a good chunk of the conversation while I was eyeballing my opponent because I finally heard Dr. Cullen say, "Well, that's settled then. You can take Alice home now, Mrs. Brandon. I'll send Jasper over later."

"Oh please," said my mother, with a flirtatious smile (you have a husband, Mom!). "Call me Mary." She slurred her name so it sounded almost French. _Yeah_, I thought, _like a drunken French sailor_.

I was wheeled (cringe) out to where the BMW was parked and strapped securely in the passenger seat. Like a toddler. Cringe.

"Well, that Dr. Cullen certainly is something, isn't he?" My mom enthused the minute her tires made contact with the road. "So charming. And good looking. And polite. Oh, and that wonderful accent…and his son is so lovely! So polite, and you don't find that in many boys nowadays."

"Mom," I pointed out. "You're what, like, forty five now? You shouldn't be considering him! Either of them," I added as an afterthought.

"I'm forty three," My mother said snippily, but she shut up. Thank God.

I gazed out the window at the trees meandering by and at the intense _green_ that surrounded me. Layer upon layer of _green_. The enemy. Jade, olive, lime, emerald, kelly, apple, pine…so many different shades of the same annoying color. _Green_.

"Isn't it beautiful around here?" My mom began, getting back into the swing of things. "I mean, so _green_. It's almost like being in Europe!"

"What, are the trees invading there too?"

"I think you need more pain meds when we get home, sweetie," My mom said, brow creasing. "And a nice lie down."

So when we got home and I had said hi to my dad, and bye to both of them in case they left before I woke up, Mom duly dosed me up with Tylenol and sent me to bed.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, the light filtering through the window was tinged with pink, and Jasper was sitting on the end of my bed.

"Jesus Christ Shepherd of Judea!" I greeted him.

"So this is your room," He replied, gazing around. "I'd expected something a little more…emo."

"Newsflash for you – having black hair does not make you an emo."

"No, but hating your life does," He countered.

"I do not _hate_ my life."

"You hate Forks."

"Forks is not my life."

"Do you hate me?"

I considered for a second, assessing him and his casual position on my comforter.

"Hating you is a waste of my time and energy," I answered. "And anyway…you did save my life. I would be very flat now if it weren't for you."

"Actually, you wouldn't have been," He said with a grin. "It takes a lot to squash a human being. You would be _very_ flat in some places, and perfectly formed in others." At the words 'perfectly formed' his eyes locked with mine and held me there for a long moment.

"Um…" I said, breaking the silence of our tense little pow-wow. "Do you want something to eat? I was going to…" I gestured hazily at the door, my hand performing a few spirals in the air before flopping back to the coverlet.

This seemed to amuse him. "I already ate."

I checked under the sheets that I was wearing my more conservative pajamas, confirmed that I was, and got up, shooing him with my hand as I did so.

"You. Go watch TV or something. Just keep out of the way while I'm cooking."

I crazy danced to the radio in the kitchen while I got my sundae ready (no parents equals no healthy eating regime for Alice).

"I've always seen you as more of a My Chemical Romance fan," Came the voice from over my shoulder. I was so shocked I squeezed hot fudge sauce over my hand and cursed like hell. He calmly led me over to the sink and stuck my hand under the faucet.

"Are you usually this accident prone?" He demanded. "Or is it just me?"

"You…keep…making…me…jump," I said through gritted teeth. "You have got to stop appearing where you're not supposed to be. Or when you are, appear slowly!"

"You're not making much sense."

"That's because I have boiling condiment on my hand!"

I stomped away from him, up the stairs, heading for the bathroom, and he made to follow me.

"Jasper," I said, closing my eyes and counting to ten. "I am going to put antiseptic cream and a bandage on my hand. I do not need _you_ to help me."

"It's my job."

"Let me rephrase that. This bathroom is my bathroom. It contains feminine hygiene products. If you do not leave me alone, I WILL THROW MY TAMPONS AT YOU!"

He left me alone. As fear of the dark is fear of the unknown, fear of female hygiene products is fear of your girlfriend/sister/mother having a higher pain threshold than you (if you're a guy, that is).

I bit my lip as I wound the bandage round and round my hand. Tears welled as it got tighter and tighter, pressing down on the burn.

"Not too tight on a burn," He said, appearing like a wraith, taking my hand and expertly loosening and finishing with his cold fingers. "And I live with three women, remember?"

"Ah, I see," I said, blinking hard. _Never cry in front of Jasper_ was very high on my list of priorities right now. Along with _Never do crazy dancing in front of Jasper_ and _Never show Jasper your ice cream obsession_.

Things were not working out.

He wrapped his cold hands gently around my throbbing one.

"Bless whatever god gave you your poor circulation," I said, smiling a wobbly smile up at him (was he growing?).

"Tylenol, I think, or Percocet. Some form of pay per view chick flick and a fresh sundae. You get the meds, and the movie, and I'll sort out the ice cream I ruined."

His smile as he left the room was truly heartbreaking.


	7. Brunettes Beat Blondes

**_Fixed!_

* * *

6. Brunettes Beat Blondes**

Just because I was (maybe, possibly) starting to like Jasper did not mean he got it easy. We watched Legally Blonde.

I did not, however, make him watch the sequel, because my replacement sundae was particularly good. Where he found fresh strawberries at that time of night and in that weather is a mystery.

It's very weird watching a movie with someone you don't know very well. You worry about your posture, your breathing pattern, and if you making comments is amusing or annoying them. Sort of like a first date (hold on, did I just mention the word _date_ in conjunction with Jasper? Not good).

"You should get some sleep," He said, after we'd finished arguing over whether Elle Woods' story had a moral. My response – "There is clearly a moral. Brunettes are always smarter than blondes, and that is why I am smarter than you. Genetics."

"I spent most of the day sleeping. Anyway, where are you going to sleep?"

"Didn't you hear your mother?" He asked, with a quick flick of the eyeballs skyward. "I'll be on your bedroom floor, on concussion watch. Though, considering your hatred of Forks, it might up end up being suicide watch."

"With you in my room, it _will_ be suicide watch."

"Don't worry. I'll only be watching your _every_ move."

"On second thoughts, it'll be murder watch. Your murder."

"Do I have to carry you?" His question caught me by surprise and I scowled at him.

"You wouldn't dare."

He did, of course, scooping me off the couch in one fluid motion and speeding up the stairs.

"Are you quite finished?" I asked when he'd deposited me on the coverlet. "Or do you feel like doing some reps with me first?"

"Do you realize how little you weigh? How fragile you are? I could lift heavier _boxes_."

"Well," I said, sticking my nose haughtily in the air and getting up. "I am going to go take a shower. Blankets and all that jazz are in the cupboard at the top of the stairs."

I took my time in the shower, concentrating on unknotting each and every muscle under the (finally) hot spray, until I felt as lithe and supple as a cat.

When I returned to the soon to be crime scene, Jasper had constructed some sort of nest made out of blankets a few feet away from my bed. I decided to take pity on him – after all, it was the final revelation of an actually _normal_ male trait.

"Useless!" I sniffed, donating him a pillow (rather enthusiastically). He caught it dexterously and laid it ceremonially on the wooden floorboards, while I straightened his mess into some semblance of a bed.

He'd changed, I noticed, into a dark blue T shirt and soft gray sweats, and laid two pills on my bedside table, along with a glass of water.

I took them and almost immediately felt my thoughts begin to slow down. Medication always worked fast on me for some reason.

"Goodnight," I yawned, rolling myself into a cocoon of blankets.

"Sleep well, Alice."

I felt something cold brush my cheek as I drifted off to sleep, but I probably just dreamed it. My dreams were numerous that night.

* * *

I woke slowly, flexing my fingers and my toes (which were stiff and cold after poking out of the blanket all night) and stretched, making sure everything was as it should be. Then my eyes flicked east, and Jasper was staring at me from his perfectly made floor-bed.

"Do you have to do the whole staring thing?" I grumbled, scrubbing my fingers through my hair.

"You look like a particularly bad tempered mop," He said, and I poked him with my toe. His flesh was as solid and dense as granite.

"Ow!" I shrieked. "Do you put varnish on your skin or something?"

He trapped my foot between his hands and held it still.

"Stop wriggling!" He hissed. "You'll make it worse."

My toe was now bright red and throbbing. I swore I'd heard something crunch.

"Jasper," I said, trying to keep my voice calm and quiet. "I think I may have broken my toe on your chest. Could we perhaps go and see your father? I'm afraid you'll have to drive, as I'm rather incapacitated."

"You've stubbed it, not broken it."

"I heard something crunch."

"I walked over here."

"We can take my truck."

"I could _walk_ faster than your truck."

"Perhaps you could. But as it stands," I gestured to my swollen tootsie between his cold palms. "_I BLAME YOU FOR THIS_!"

"I'll have to carry you again," He said, narrowing his eyes at the thought.

"I can get down the stairs on my own."

"How?"

"Watch."

I accepted his hand to get me to the top of the stairs (only through necessity, otherwise I might have remained in that position all day). When we reached our destination, I sat neatly on the banister, crossed my ankles and slid down to the bottom, with what I like to think was a great deal of grace and charm.

"See?" I said, looking up from my recumbent position at the bottom of the stairs (as I had slid with rather too much force, and ended up flat on my back). "I do have _some_ useful skills."

"What am I going to do with you?" He groaned. "You're going to be practically living with us if you keep being this accident prone."

"Don't worry," I said brightly as I tried to stand up and winced, realizing I'd twisted my ankle. "All of this is your fault. When you go, I'll be fine. So to the hospital, tout suite!"

"Carlisle's not working today. He'll be at home. And, as it's Saturday, so will everyone else."

"Oh great," I sighed. "Enter Alice, the amazing accident prone freak show. Marvel as she trips over her own feet! Gawp as she kicks the most annoying person she knows and breaks her toe!"

He looked at me quizzically. "You really are a lot more insecure than people give you credit for, aren't you? All that bravado, all that brash…it's just a show."

"Don't be silly," I said, but I felt my face go hot, a blush staining my cheeks that I hadn't felt for years.

"You look like a little girl when you're embarrassed."

"That's because I'm the same size as a little girl," I quipped. "Now take me to your father – and do be easy on my truck."

"You mean don't take it over fifty?"

"Something like that."

He picked me up for the second time in twenty four hours, and irrationally my pulse jumped as his icy skin touched mine. The way he looked at me made me think he could hear it.


	8. Picture Books And A Mongoose

**

* * *

7. ****Picture Books And A Mongoose**

"Have you met any of my family before today?" He asked, turning his head away from the road for a second and miraculously not swerving an inch.

"Um, I have Trig with Bella, but I don't sit with her or anything. It's worth going to class just to watch her face."

"Bella really doesn't like Trig."

"Massive understatement. She looks like she's in _pain_."

He chuckled. "That's our Bella. Heart on her sleeve. And Edward is just like her. Emmett too, I suppose."

"And Rosalie? You're twins, aren't you?"

"My sister is a different breed. People never see past that show of superficiality she puts on. But underneath, she has a brilliant mind. You and she have a lot in common that way. Anyhow, that's why she and Emmett go together so well. "

"And your…parents?" I asked, cringing in empathy with my truck's struggling engine. "And keep the speed down, please."

"My parents. Carlisle and Esme, I take it you mean?"

I nodded.

"Carlisle is incredibly compassionate. He'd give his last dollar away to someone else in need. And Esme was born to be a mother. It's such a shame she couldn't have children naturally." He flashed a grin at me. "On the plus side, none of us needed to be toilet trained or burped."

"And you love them very much."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because your face lights up when you say their names."

With a sudden sharp turn that almost sent me through the window we headed up a long and winding drive, bordered by forest and ferns on both sides. The light got increasingly darker and greener as we proceeded.

* * *

The house was wonderful, in pale colors with smooth classic lines, subtly hinting at a bygone age.

"I had a picture book once," I said. "It was about a beautiful blond little girl who had a ragdoll, and she lived in a house like this one."

Just then, a blond head stuck itself out of a ground floor window and a pale hand waved.

"Well, there's your blond," Jasper grinned. "I could try and find you a doll but I'm afraid you'd do voodoo with it."

I couldn't kick him again (I had learned my lesson) but I stuck my tongue out at him, making him grin even wider. Why was it that everything I did amused him?

Embarrassingly, he had to carry me out of the car and to the front door, which was held open by an enthusiastic Rosalie, who was barely smothering her giggles. Of course, Jasper had to exacerbate the situation by not putting me down.

The family was lined up to greet us in what I assumed was age order – the golden haired smiling Carlisle, a beautiful maternal looking woman who I assumed must be Esme, the gigantic Emmett (who was quickly joined by a hysterical Rosalie), followed by the bronze haired Edward with his arm around timid looking Bella.

"Jasper," I hissed. "Put. Me. Down."

He did, and I collapsed after simultaneously putting weight on my broken toe and twisted ankle. Bella slipped from under the circle of her partner's arm and gently levered me up, her arm around my shoulders.

Carlisle came forward, his face concerned. "What happened?"

"I think I've broken my toe."

He knelt down and examined the now purple member as if it were a Picasso. "Yes. Definitely broken. How did you do it?"

"Carlisle, she…um…unadvisedly…um…kicked me."

The hulking Emmett gave a guffaw. "Nice one, Alice."

I tried to smile and not look like I was grimacing. Even with Bella taking most of my weight, the pressure on my toe was unbearable.

"Oh!" cried Esme, slapping her forehead (I'd never actually _seen_ anyone do that before – outside of films, that is). "Where are my manners? And yours, the lot of you! Jasper – get poor Alice a chair. Emmett – stop laughing, you look like a mongoose. Rosalie – get some ice from the freezer. Edward – Carlisle's bag, please. Bella – don't you move an inch."

Her adopted children made like bananas and split, peeling off in three different directions while Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Bella and I were left in the hall.

"Jasper's never brought a _girl_ home before," Esme enthused, smiling widely. "Do you two have classes together?"

"Are you two an item?" Emmett asked, head on one side.

"Yes to the first," I said, nodding to Esme. "And to the second, no. Oh God, no." Then I realized that I was in a room with four of his family members. "Not that there's anything wrong with him, or anything, no! It's just…"

"That he annoys the hell outta you?"

"Emmett!"

"Alice." Jasper had re-entered the room, carrying what appeared to be a sawn off chaise longue. Edward and Rosalie followed him silent and sober as ghosts. Edward handed Carlisle his bag and drifted away to who knew where, and Rosalie carefully laid a bag of ice by the chaise's leg. She took my other side and she and Bella lifted me over to the seat.

Carlisle extricated a large syringe from his bag and half filled it with some clear liquid.

"Local anesthetic," He explained.

I gulped. "I'm a little bit…squeamish."

Emmett laughed again, and he grunted as Esme smacked him round the back of the head.

"Close your eyes," Carlisle advised.

I squeezed my lids together and waited. However the first thing I felt was something cold wrapping itself around my hand. I peeked to see white fingers clasping mine, and opened my eyes to see Jasper staring down at me.

"In case you need something to hold on to," He explained, giving my fingers a small squeeze. My heart twitched. Really not good.

So I closed my eyes while Carlisle did his thing, squeezing Jasper's hand when it hurt and feeling it slowly warm to the temperature of mine.

"All done!" He announced finally, taping my big and first toes together to keep the bone straight.

I finally took a good look around me from my position on the chaise. The house was light inside, like the exterior, the honey colored floorboards polished to a high shine. The entire back wall was glass, giving a panoramic view of the forest where I could just glimpse a watery sun arching over the trees…

The first ray of sunlight hit the floor and the assembled Cullens and Hales gave an audible gasp, air hissing through every set of teeth. Then, as the light invaded, they began to glow. To glitter. To sparkle, until every surface was bright with refracting beams.

"Alice – " Jasper began, but stopped at the look on my face.

"You stay away from me," I said, getting up slowly and backing towards the door, my hand reaching behind me for the handle.

"It's not – "

"Not what? What I think? Right now, I'm not thinking, right now, I'm trying very hard not to go into shock."

"Alice, please – "

"STAY AWAY!" I screeched at him, flinging the door open and almost falling out of it. "I don't know what you are, but you'd better stay the hell away from me!"

"You can't drive," Carlisle pointed out, rainbows dancing off his skin.

"I can. And I will."

Jasper was gazing at me imploring, shining like a multi faceted diamond.

"Please, Alice. For me."

"Thanks for saving my life Jasper. And for making me burn myself, break my toe and twist my ankle. We're even now."

And with that, I turned and hobble-sprinted towards the haven of the old red Chevy.


	9. Persuasion

**

* * *

8. Persuasion**

I drove home feeling dizzy, hardly caring about the omnipresent pain in my foot. My head was spinning like the Earth around the Sun. What had I witnessed? Could I trust my own judgment? What had I, Alice Brandon, unwittingly come across?

I had no answer.

I slammed on the brake as a deer loped gracefully across my path. For a moment it paused, gazing at me with liquid eyes that were like stars in their blackness.

I had seen those eyes before. That first day - _if you want to see the sun, buy a travel brochure…_

Color changing eyes. That was another thing to add to my list. Super strength, I realized, too. Super speed.

Having to concentrate brought my mind sharply back into focus. I would go home, have a sandwich and a nice long shower, and then I would think about what to do.

* * *

It didn't work like that. When I arrived back home, I saw the dirty sundae glass in the sink and a lump formed in my throat. I turned the faucet on hard, spraying water everywhere. Then I rested my head on the cold counter top and moaned aloud.

The shower, then. I trooped upstairs, dragged a clean pair of pajamas out of the linen cupboard (though it was barely noon) and stood under the spray for at least forty five minutes.

I still hadn't warmed up.

After scrubbing every bare inch of my skin raw, I turned the water off with a sigh, wrapped myself in a bath robe and headed for my bedroom.

* * *

Rosalie was sitting in my rocking chair, exquisitely beautiful, her face full of fury and her eyes livid. I didn't even get a chance to be surprised; she just folded her sparkling arms and began.

"You've hurt my brother very badly, you know."

"He lied to me!"

"Not likely. Ever recall a conversation when he said 'Hey Alice, you know I'm human, right?'"

"Well if he didn't lie he still didn't tell the truth!"

"Wasn't his truth to tell. It involves all of us. And now it seems, you." She fixed her golden glare upon me. "How many girls does Jasper talk to at school? Apart from me and Bella?"

"What?" I asked, sinking down on the bed. Her question was out of context, and I didn't know how to answer it.

"Only you. How many other _people_ do you think he's taken the time of day over, excluding you? Nobody. I've barely even seen him look at any other person apart from his family in a very long time. And now he's looking at you. Spending time with _you_. Saving _you_. Caring for _you_!"

"He likes to annoy me, is all. I'm sure he – "

"You can bet your bottom dollar he doesn't do it with other people! He barely even jokes with _Emmett_ anymore!"

"I've heard enough. I'm going." I got up and turned towards the door, heading for the bathroom, for safety, for sanity, for warm pajamas. And possibly something sharp to chase Rosalie out of the house with.

"He's in love with you, Alice!"

I froze.

"If not now, then soon. But I recognize the signs. Do you realize how much you pissed him off, that first day? No one ever gets under Jasper's skin. _No one_. He can't help mentioning your name. And when he does, it's like someone's lit a fire behind his eyes. He says it like _a prayer_, Alice."

My voice was choked with tears. "You're lying." She came forward and placed a hand on my shoulder, turning me to face the shimmering glory and sadness of her face.

"Are you telling me you don't feel anything for him at all? Because you do. Your heart rate spikes whenever he so much as goes near you."

I could feel her words, like a point of heat inside my chest. My heart burned with sadness, anger and guilt. Was there anything underneath all that? Some form of love that felt surprisingly similar to loathing? That was unbearable? That was beating the breath out of me?

"Please," Rosalie implored, tilting my chin so I was looking her in the eyes. "Don't cut him out of your life. Or us either. You made him happy, and that's all we want."

"What are you?" I whispered.

"That's for him to tell you," She said, backing towards the window. "Then you can decide where to go from there."

And she jumped clean out of my window.

That time, I did scream. But when I looked out into the bright sunshine, she was gone. There wasn't even a trace of her as an imprint on the grass.

I sank back on my bed, realizing quite how exhausted I was. Shock, the supernatural and complete surprise had suddenly become a big part of my life, a part that I couldn't control. Like the white hot burn where my heart should be.

* * *

So it was at midday that I rolled myself into my blankets and drifted off to sleep, into strangely racked dreams where people glittered like frost and all was not as it seemed. I followed one of them over a thick sheet of ice, so dense it was almost opaque. We'd reached the middle when he turned, his golden eyes burning into my face, and my heart smashed with the sound of breaking crockery.

Breaking crockery? No, that was not in the dream. Something was wrong.

It was very dark now, and I could hear hushed voices downstairs. Male, from the sound of them.

My house was being robbed.

Silently I crept across the landing toward my parents' room, grabbing the baseball bat from under the bed and the pepper spray from my mom's second best purse hanging on the bedpost. Then I headed downstairs.

They were both facing away from me, and I managed to crack one of them over the back of the head with the bat before he could turn around. But then the other one turned, and he had a gun.

"Why you little bitch!" He cussed. "You better put the bat down, or I'll blow your stupid little head off."

"And how many years do you think you'll do for murder? The murder of an seventeen year old?" I could see in his eyes that I'd made the wrong move.

"Seventeen, eh, honey? Then maybe you and I will have a little fun first."

"You touch her and I'll break your neck."

The voice coming from behind me sent a wash of relief scudding through my veins, and my heart swelled to twice its normal size. I reached behind me with one hand and his cool fingers gripped mine, squeezing hard.

"Oh, so the damsel in distress has found herself a hero," The thief taunted, the stocking round his face darkening as his spit sprayed the nylon.

"Alice," Jasper whispered in my ear. "When I say, you have to duck. You have to get down and stay down. NOW!" He roared.

I threw myself to the floor and lay there flat, shaking. I heard a bang and a roar which made my ears ring, and there was a sudden sharp smell in my nostrils.

"It's alright. You can get up."

The bullet was lodged in the wooden cookie jar, having clearly ricocheted off Jasper's chest. The bulletproof monk in question was holding my intruder aloft by the throat. He squeezed.

"Now," He said in a voice that was cold and deadly. "You are going to take your miserable partner and leave. The only reason I am not killing you is that I don't want to traumatize Alice. However, if you or anyone like you ever comes near this house again, I will tear you limb from limb."

He dropped the man with a resounding crash. The guy grabbed his unconscious partner and dragged him out of the broken back door, heading towards the forest.

"Well," said Jasper, in a more reasonable sounding voice. "You sure know how to swing a bat."

"You're funny," I giggled.

"Huh?"

But suddenly, I couldn't stop laughing. I stood there and laughed and laughed as the expression on Jasper's face changed quickly from surprise to worry.

"You are in shock," He said, placing a hand on my forehead. "But God Alice, why can't you be like a normal person? Normal shocked people are quiet and cold, whereas you can't stop laughing and you're burning up!"

"I'm hot, you're cold, you go around like you know who I am, but you don't, you've got me on my toes!" I sang between snickers.

He rolled his eyes expressively. "Somehow, I don't think the Jonas Brothers planned that for a soprano," He said, picking me up and carrying me up the stairs to my room.

He tucked me in bed and stood over me as I rolled from side to side, giggling merrily all the while. He felt my brow after another few minutes.

"Still too hot," He muttered. "Alice, you need to cool down."

"Your wish, my command!" I gasped through a spasm of laughter.

"Oh God, you're not even coherent. Here goes nothing." He pulled back my sheets and shoved me over so I was no longer occupying the entire mattress. Then he lay down next to me, wrapping his cold marble arms around my waist.

"What _are_ you doing?"

"I'm the coldest thing you have right now – unless you want me to stick you out the window."

"This is fine," I said, feeling my skin cool as my heart rate sped up and the giggles subsided.

I began to cry then, big fat tears that rolled down my cheeks and soaked the pillow. He hugged me tighter, wrapping one of my hands in his own as he shushed me.

As I drifted off to sleep, I felt something cold graze the nape of my neck. This time, I didn't know whether to believe in it or not.


	10. You Can Be In My Horror Movie

**_This one was _hard_. I mean REALLY __hard. I hope I got rid of all trace elements of cheesiness. Enjoy._****

* * *

9. You Can Be In My Horror Movie**

I woke up in the morning to mist snaking in from the now open window. No more sunlight meant no more Freaky Sparkles Jasper ™. Did no more sunlight mean that I got my answers?

I took a quick peek under the sheets to discover that my ankle was as pink and fluffy as cotton candy. I touched it. Ouch. Burning hot _and_ painful. Where's a guy with poor circulation when you need one?

In the rocking chair, apparently. "I didn't wake you up earlier," He said, rocking gently backwards and forwards. "Because I need you completely coherent if you're to understand a word I'm saying."

"Am I ever completely coherent?"

"Not usually, no."

"Just one question," I said, sticking my ankle out of bed. "Would you oblige?"

He was at my side in about half a second. The human facade was dropping. He knelt down by my bed and folded his hands around my ruined ankle. I sighed in relief.

"Right. On to the particulars." I cleared my throat. "What are you, exactly? Because no human I've ever met looks like the display window of Tiffany's in the sun."

He grinned. "Before I tell you, I'd like to make it clear that I'm a vegetarian."

"Big deal. Spill."

"I am…a v-…a v-…"

"You're a Viagra salesman."

"No cigar."

"Mr. Varner in disguise?"

"No. Alice, be serious." He took a deep breath. "I am a vampire."

I blacked out for about a second.

"Did I just hear you right?"

"If you heard the word – "

"Yeah, I heard that one. And by your confession of vegetarianism, I take it that you don't hunt humans."

"No."

"Oh good. Right now I have color changing eyes, super strength, super speed and sparkliness on my list. Oh, that and indestructible skin. And the cold. I take it you have poor circulation because you have no blood flow, right?"

"Right. But you missed out extremely good sense of smell, venomous, and enticing in every way – smell, looks. And the really obvious one."

"Which is?"

"Attraction to blood?"

"Oh. Okay. That one. But no aversion to sunlight – well, excluding because it brings on the sparkliness – no being staked, no sleeping in coffins?"

"I don't sleep at all."

"Then what in the world where you doing on my bedroom floor?"

"I was watching you. You're interesting when you sleep. Your dreams are so tangible that I can almost see them myself. Added to the fact that you usually give me a running commentary."

"What did I say?"

"Lots of quoting. Lord of the Rings. Titanic. Moulin Rouge. And then at the end, you said 'y'all can't walk no line.'"

"What can I say? I'm a Johnny Cash fan."

"I'm from the South originally, you know."

"And when exactly is originally?"

"I was born in 1843."

"What day?"

"I can't recall."

"So you are now – approximately – 165 years old. You look pretty good for your age, you know."

"I do have one other talent that other…others of my kind don't possess."

"Hmmm?"

"I can manipulate emotions. I could change the feeling in this room if I wished."

"Permanently?"

"No. Just while I'm in the immediate vicinity. I can do it over short distances, but it takes a great deal of concentration. People are natural drawn to us by the beauty of our faces, of our forms. But if I spread a sort of…apprehension, shall we say, then they'll stay away."

"Why didn't you do it to me?"

He seemed puzzled. "Would you want me to?"

"No, no, it's just…I annoyed you so much, that first day!"

"You still do. But it was that which gave me the problem. The feelings of annoyance, of anger – they seemed to limit my abilities. I'm sure if I thought of you calmly and objectively then I could, but I can't now. You're way too big a part in my life."

"What do you mean by that, precisely?"

He let go of my foot and joined me on the bed, curling up at the foot to regard me with eyes which were darker now, closer to his original black than the warm butterscotch that had hailed me on the crash day.

"Silly girl," He said warmly. "Do you still not know how I feel about you?"

"Rosalie did say something vague about love – you know, undying, eternal, that sort of thing."

"If I said she'd hit the mark there, what would be your response?"

I took a deep breath and tried to slow my pulse. I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth like the yoga teacher had taught me, and mentally prepared to be very mad with myself if I messed this up.

"I would have to say that seeing as I can't stop thinking about you – and that my heart rate accelerates whenever you come near me – and that I'm still in the same room as a creature from a horror movie who was, in fact, created to hunt me without doing the whole screaming and running away thing – I guess I'm pretty into you."

"Alice," said Jasper, all trace of playfulness dropped from his voice. "Rosalie hit the mark. I plan on spending the rest of eternity loving you – whether or not you plan spending it with me – and I will do whatever it takes to make sure you're the safest, happiest woman _ever_."

Wow. Quite a soliloquy. I've never been particularly verbose, so…here goes.

"Oh Jasper," I sighed. "I love you, you giant sparkly fool. Any relationship we have may be fraught with peril, owing to the fact that I am over a foot shorter than you and therefore a clinical midget. But I don't care particularly. I'll just buy some stilts. And I'll be in your horror movie as long as you want me."

His answering smile was so bright and so beautiful it could have set the room on fire.

"Now," I said. "More importantly. Earlier, you said that I _usually_ give you a running commentary of my dreams. How often do you come here?"

"Oh," He said easily. "Every night. Someone has to look after you, you know."

"Huh. Every night. You come into my room, and watch me sleeping. Every night. Okay."

That was when I jumped him.


	11. Crime And Punishment

**_Sorry it's been so long, but I'm back at school now and things get...complicated. Suffice to say love, life and looming exams rule my psyche. But enjoy this. It's dedicated to Catherine, in the hope she reads and enjoys._****

* * *

10. ****Crime And Punishment**

"EVERY NIGHT?!" I screeched, pinning him to the bed with my hands and knees. "You come here every night and watch me _dribble_?!"

"You don't dribble."

"That's beside the point! How am I ever going to have a normal relationship with you if you constantly invade my privacy to watch me_ sleep_? And that's just weird, anyway. Most guys just settle for a bracelet on your birthday."

He was surreptitiously trying to roll me without breaking my bones, and misjudging it. I just swayed back and forth like a tipsy cobra.

"I'm sorry."

"But you are going to do it again, aren't you?"

He looked me in the eyes. "Yes." And in one quick move he flipped me up and off him, so I was flat on my back and he hovered over me like an overprotective vulture. I don't know what it would have looked like if anyone had come in right then…

"So," He said, casually taking my hand and causing my heart to morph into a Ferrari. "Breakfast."

"Well, I was think more along the lines of baby or beautiful, but whatever works for you."

He grimaced. "Poor taste. Breakfast for the human, shall we say."

"We shall."

He picked me up once again and carried me all the way downstairs, seating me in one of the chairs surrounding the kitchen table.

"I can walk, you know."

Suddenly his eyes were at the same level as mine as he knelt in one smooth motion. His fingers carefully traced the outline of my lips.

"Yes," He said, exquisitely sweet breath blowing into my face. "But it hurts you. I don't like to see you in pain."

I gulped and his gaze traveled to my throat, fingers trailing down my neck and along the line of my collarbone.

"Pretty."

"I inherited it from my mother."

"I shall have to thank her for it someday."

His hand curled delicately round the back of my neck and drew me closer until the tips of our noses were almost touching and we were breathing in rhythm.

"You must be hungry," He said after a long moment, brushing my lower lip ponderously with his.

"Oh, I _am._"

He laughed and shot upright. "Not for that, little minx."

He did a grand tour of the kitchen while I was recovering, checking the cupboards and peering at the stove and inside the microwave.

"Eating habits have come a long way," He stated with a low whistle.

"Let's play a game."

He raised an eyebrow, cocking his head inquisitively.

"You have that supernatural sense of smell. You have to find breakfast. I will need two items – milk and cereal, and you have three tries for each."

"Sounds fun."

"But," I said, raising a warning finger. "In the unlikelihood that you cannot find my breakfast, you have to stop playing around and kiss me."

"Ah, Alice. Too dangerous."

"You're not very hungry, it isn't."

"It is, and it always will be."

I locked my gaze with his. "Promise me."

He rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time. "Alright. I, Jasper Whitlock Hale, do promise you, Alice Mary Brandon, that if I fail in my task of finding your breakfast, in the form of cereal and milk, I will pay the penalty of one kiss, lasting not over one minute."

"Penalty?"

"Penalty."

"I agree. Go!"

He began making his way around the room, elegant nostrils barely flaring as he searched for my food. He brought me an array of cereals from the cupboard above the stove (as I hadn't specified), and a bowl to put my choice into.

The milk however was a bigger problem. First he brought me cheese, which even he said looked wrong. Then he brought me yogurt, commenting, "Your milk's gone off." Finally he opened the deep freeze and pulled out an ancient pot of sweet cream that must have followed us from Phoenix.

Grinning, I shook my head.

"Jasper Whitlock Hale. You have failed to complete the task of hunting down my breakfast using only your inordinately good sense of smell. For that, I exact my penalty of one kiss. Would you rather sit or stand?"

"Stand," He growled. He muttered something like, "That might make it just a _touch_ harder."

Oh my aching sides.

Now, to combat the problem of my beloved being over six feet tall while I did not even clear five.

I stood on a chair, and beckoned with my finger. He came duly, looking as if he was on death row and the electricity had suddenly been turned back on. I crooked my finger again like an air traffic controller until we were less than a sixteenth of an inch apart.

I could feel the tension in his jaw the minute our lips met. He was trying to control himself, to take care of me, but all he was doing was diminishing the experience so that it was like making out with one of the gods in the Parthenon.

Dang, I thought, and bit his lower lip softly (so my teeth didn't shatter).

_That_ woke him up. He moved into the pattern I was weaving until his arms were around my waist and I was off the chair but instead hanging at least a foot off the ground.

Kissing a vampire is an interesting experience. Rather like being crushed, but in a _very_ pleasant way.

When we finally parted (after dark spots had started to dance before my eyes), he said, "That was definitely over a minute."

"Shut up. We're doing that on a more regular basis. And can you please put me down now?"

If anything, his grip tightened. He grinned wickedly. "I rather like holding you prisoner." He shifted me slightly so that I was a little further up and started tracing the contours of my neck with his lips (agonizingly slowly, of course).

"Stop it," I grumbled, and believe you me it was a _hard_ thing to say. "You'll make me spontaneously combust."

Jasper lowered me gently to the floor (it was a long way down) and pushed me gently into a chair.

"Now eat," He commanded. "You'll need fuel if you're planning on spontaneously combusting anytime soon. Anyway, what do you say to going to visit everyone today?"

I swallowed a mouthful of muesli convulsively and choked.

"Your family?" I asked, eyes streaming.

He nodded.

"After I was so rude last time?"

He chuckled. "Don't worry about that. Esme's already worked you into all her family plans for at least the next five years, and Carlisle might even have to open a weekend clinic if you keep going the way you are. Emmett finds you hilarious for some unknown reason, and Rosalie just _adores_ you. Edward and Bella are just – well, they're just pleased this has worked out for me as well as it did for them."

"They were like us?"

"Yes. Just without the running and the screaming part."

I flushed as Jasper's phone vibrated in his pocket. He flipped the top. "Yes?"

A wide grin spread across his face and he handed it to me. I tentatively put it to my ear.

"Come over immediately," A menacing bass rippled through the speaker. "Great things are afoot. Rosalie has something to show you, and Edward has ordered…take out."

You will not believe how fast I was out of that door.


	12. Whose Dalai Llama?

**_I know this has been a long time coming, and for that, I apologise. To make amends, it's chocka with Cullen cars and vehicles. This chapter is for Paige, who still can't make the link work!  
_

* * *

11. Whose Dalai Llama?**

What was to be the first of (many) days spent with the Cullens was very eventful. At his plea, I finally agreed to play catch with Emmett.

"Jesus," said Bella, twisting my wrist to examine the purple blotches on my skin. "Those are the size of marbles, at least."

"Actually," I winced. "They're baseball sized."

I had managed to grab some down time with the most recent Cullen convert and we were in Port Angeles, sipping lattes while the rain hammered outside. Bella's had already disappeared into a neighboring pot plant.

She told me her story. Like me, Bella had been born and raised in Phoenix. Her parents were divorced, and when she was seventeen, she had come to Forks to live with her dad. Like me, she had met and been fascinated by one of the Cullens.

"You have no idea how obsessed I was," She said, stirring some sugar into the dregs of her coffee. "I looked him up on the internet."

"Hold on. You found out Edward was a vampire – on the _web_?"

"Yeah," She admitted. "But that was after a kid I knew from the reservation told me – Jacob." Her face softened for a second before she went back to stirring.

"And how do you find it?" I asked tentatively.

She laughed. "I'm with the person I love the most in the world for all eternity. How do you _think_ I find it?"

I grinned in response to her question. Someday…

Hold up. Jasper and I hadn't even been on a date yet and already I was considering a longer-than-life commitment?

_You are in way too deep_, I told myself. _Big issues._

"Ready to leave?" Bella asked, startling me out of my reverie. As she rose, half the male clientele of the café gave gusty sighs. A chubby guy with a paunch and a striped shirt in the corner gave her a small wave.

* * *

I woke up on Monday morning with the feel of Jasper's cold lips on my neck.

"Mmmm…" I sighed, and stayed still for another five minutes.

"I really should stop spending mornings with you," He said after a short interlude. "I enjoy them _far_ too much."

"All the more reason to stay."

"Maybe. That and the fact that in, oh, approximately five minutes…you're gonna be late."

"_WHAT_?!" I cried, shooting bolt upright and nearly knocking myself out on his marble chin. "Arrgh! Jasper Hale, if you ever kiss me again, you are a dead man!"

I began running (well, hopping) frantically around, simultaneously trying to wash, dress and pack my book bag.

Jasper smoothly slipped the strap over my shoulder, took my hand and almost flew me outside.

A gleaming silver motorcycle stood in the driveway, the murky light from behind the clouds making its metallic finish shimmer.

I gulped.

"Come on," He said, seeing my face. "You run with vampires. Are you seriously telling me that you're scared of one teeny weeny little motorcycle?"

"That is not teeny weeny."

He slipped his hand under the seat and brought out a helmet.

"If you do fall off – which, by the way, you won't – you'll be safe. Okay?" He fastened it deftly under my chin and swiftly kissed my cheek. "Now let's ride."

He waited until I was safely installed behind him and clinging like a spider monkey to his waist before kick starting the engine. The bike roared to life beneath us, sounding like someone badly in need of some Alka Seltzer.

"Go slow," I begged.

He turned to grin at me. "Why go slow," He said quietly, "When you can go…_fast_?!"

There was a snarl as he twisted the throttle and suddenly we were away, the trees blurring into a wall on either side. I hung on to him for all I was worth and in less time than seemed possible, we were parked next to Edward's recognizable silver Volvo.

"Well?" He asked, pulling me off, un-strapping the helmet and kissing me all in one breath. "How was it?"

"Scary. You went _fast_."

"Fast? That was slow compared to what that thing can do. I sometimes race Bella, but she's only got an old Honda someone fixed up for her when she was younger." He caressed the side of the silver monster that had just borne us hence. "This is _fast_."

He took my hand and began to lead me towards the outcropping of buildings that signified homeroom and a dozen other things.

"Everyone is _staring_ at us!" I hissed after a few strides.

"No they aren't."

"Yes, they_ are_!"

"Not everyone. Not that guy over – no, wait – he looked."

"Fabulous."

"Do you…not…_want_ to be seen with me?"

I turned my face up and made a vague attempt to meet his gaze and not swallow rain water. "It's not that. It's just…"

"That you hoped that you could keep this quiet?"

"Quieter, certainly."

His hand tightened around mine. "This is only the beginning."

* * *

I ignored a frantically beckoning Rosalie at lunch and went to sit with my other friends. If anyone's explanation was going to make the rounds, I wanted it to be mine before anyone else could put their five cents in.

"So what's the story?" Lauren asked before my rear had even touched the chair.

"Huh?"

"You and Jasper Hale, of course." She rolled her eyes expressively. "Who asked whom? And why? And _how_?"

"He's just minding me until my mom and dad get back from Arizona," I said, my eyes on the faux wood grains of the table top.

"Alice," Lauren said. "One of Dr. Cullen's 'minders' does not drive you to school on a _motorcycle_. Nor do they kiss you, walk you to class or spend almost all of that class staring at you. Now spill."

"Really?" I asked, raising my eyes to meet hers. "He was staring at me? The whole lesson?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Like you were an ice cream sandwich or something. Tell!"

"Well," I said slowly, wondering how to phrase it. "Jasper volunteered to be my minder…and then we watched a movie together…and then he went home…" I fabricated. "And then I, um…fell down the stairs and hurt my ankle…so he took me to see Car – Dr. Cullen…and then he asked me out."

"That's it?" She asked, looking vaguely disgusted.

"My house got broken into on Friday night," I offered. "And he stayed…on my, um…couch, to make sure I was…_safe_?"

"How adorable!" She cooed. "And how exciting! Wow, Alice, less than six months here and you've already managed to crack the shell of a Cullen. More than that. A _Hale_."

She said the name reverently, as if he was her Dalai Llama or something.

"Um, well…" I gestured at the table on the far side of the cafeteria. "I'm just gonna go…sit…with them now."

"Okay. But you have to promise to tell all in Government."

"There won't be much to – "

"Promise."

"But I – "

"Promise!"

I sighed. "Okay. I promise."

She squealed and I got up wearily and went to sit at the Cullen table. Five pairs of darkening golden eyes gleamed at me with amusement, and Jasper kissed the top of my head as I sat down (though I could've been standing and he most probably would've managed it).

Across the crowded room, Lauren winked at me.


	13. He Had Me Pinned

**_Sorry this has taken so long, guys - I've been neglecting you. Dedicated to my sister, for stealing my muffin. Grrr...  
_

* * *

12. ****He Had Me Pinned**

"Jasper Hale…"

"Alice Brandon…"

"Jasper…"

"Alice…"

"Accident…"

"Hospital…"

Whispers and rumors followed those next few days like a bad smell. That we'd been seen together, that we'd slept together, that we _weren't_ together…

Of course, the first two were true. But my version of sleeping was quite a bit different to everyone else's, like, actually involving sleeping.

Jasper (_my boyfriend!_ I quietly exulted) was getting a lot more attention than he was used to too. He sent out waves and waves of distaste so strong that sometimes even I had to fight really hard to be near him. And I knew it was hard for him. Because they all smelled _so_ appetizing. To him, anyhow.

However we had soon begun a routine that I would have been pleased to continue in forever. Because it basically involved spending every minute of every day with the person I loved most of all.

The perfection of my new situation was marred by two looming problems, however - Tyler's need to apologize for almost taking my life, and Lauren's enmity of that fact.

Lauren had given me the starring role in her daily bitch fest. Everyday it was something about what I had done, or hadn't done, by myself or with Jasper.

But honestly, I had no idea that she felt _that way_ about him. Jasper knew (of course) and was surprised I hadn't picked up on it.

"It's alright for you," I grumbled as he walked me to the motorcycle on Friday afternoon. "No one ever needs to tell you anything."

"I think you're confusing me with Edward."

"Am not. People don't have to tell him what's on their mind, whereas people don't need to tell you how they _feel_. Big difference."

"You have to," He pointed out.

I sighed. "I know _that_. But that's only because you're as caught up in this as I am, which means you can't focus, like I can't – ah!"

I had been dragging my feet in my annoyance, and suddenly the toe of my boot snagged on an uneven bit of paving. I was sailing towards someone's fender before I could even put up my hands to protect my face and –

And Jasper snagged me, of course. He pulled me upright but didn't let me go, wrapping his arms around me. I turned my face into his stone chest and he gently stroked my hair.

"Don't bottle," He advised in my ear. "Being angry doesn't suit you."

"But I always used to be angry with you," I mumbled.

"True."

"I want to hit her."

"I know."

I pulled back and glared at him. "And I want you to stop being so goddamn understanding. It makes me want to – "

His lips came down on mine with a gentle but unbreakable pressure, and he made me stay there, in the kiss, in the moment.

"There," He said, finally pulling away. "Better?"

I scowl/grinned. "I thought I told you if you ever kissed me again you'd be a dead man."

"I've kissed you quite a few times since then. And," He pressed my palm to his chest. "I'm in the unfortunate situation of being dead already."

"Okay, okay, you win."

"What was that?"

"You heard me."

"Didn't."

"Did."

"Didn't."

"Did!"

"Didn't!"

"Alright," I roared. "You win!"

He pinned my arms behind my back so I couldn't hit him and kissed me again.

"If you're quite done freaking out," He said. "I have a surprise for you."

"Oh God. It's not _another_ sibling, is it?"

"No."

"Some other freakish talent?"

"Well…"

"I knew you could shoot lasers from your eyes."

He laughed. "Wrong. But let's just say…oh…if _I_ were running for the school, Mike Newton would be a continent behind me."

I whistled. "Faster than the bike?"

"A lot faster than the bike."

I cocked my head on one side, sensing that the conversation was not quite over. "Which is part of my surprise?"

"No…but it is sort of involved in your surprise. Partially. Slightly."

I reached under the motorcycle seat and pulled out the helmet that I was loathed to call mine. Jasper's need for speed absolutely terrified me, and he delighted in making me panic by taking sharp bends at over twice the (completely rational) limit.

Stupid vampire.

I had however acquired a leather jacket. Road rash is _incredibly_ uncomfortable. Just trust me. I'd been sleeping with my arms tight around Jasper's cool waist, partly because I wanted to and partly because it numbed the itching.

Useful vampire.

* * *

He took a different route today, skirting round yet more trees, leaning so close to the road that I swore my heart was going to leap out of my chest and throttle him.

"Are you suicidal?!" I screamed over the wind. "Or just vaguely sadistic?"

"I enjoy listening to you overreact," He called back, voice velvet smooth despite the roaring in my ears. "Have you any idea how fast your heart is going?"

"I can kind of hear it!"

"So can I."

But he pulled up pretty soon after that, taking a turn off the one-ten and heading down a long, long side road.

He lifted me off (I was frozen to the seat in terror) as usual, took my helmet and stashed it. Then he turned towards the trees.

"Are we…hiking?"

"And?"

"I'm not exactly…wearing my hiking shoes."

"Alice," He said, flitting back to my side in less than a millisecond. "Do you even own any hiking shoes?"

"I…don't…think…so. But you've forgotten," I gestured down to my foot. "I'm injured."

He seemed to deliberate for a moment, then in a suddenly _whoosh_ of air I was off the ground and in his marble arms.

"Hey!"

His eyes looked like midnight kaleidoscopes as they bored into mine, deeper and more wise than anything I'd ever seen. It hurt to look at him, but who could've avoided staring at the radiant beauty of that face? I marveled that it was (partly, slightly) mine. He belonged to me as inexorably as I did to him.

"You look thirsty," I said, voice cracking.

"Alice," He said, his voice a waterfall of notes now. "Your parents are back this evening. I want...I _need_...some time with you. Alone. Not with your family, not with my family. Not with anyone at school. I want you to myself. For once...I don't like sharing."

What could I say to that?


	14. Mistakes

**_For Lottchen, the Bella to my (extremely) eccentric Alice. I'm still planning your wedding.__ Oh, and in response to a review from Tash - Alice is only ever described as a vampire in the books. I mean, her life is practically perfect! And during her mortal life, she was in an asylum. Can't exactly count that as a cheerful experience.__ Sorry for ranting, guys, but read this for what it is - a story. I am NOT Stephenie Meyer, so I don't stick to her stereotypes.  
P.S. Only Jasper is allowed to call Alice an emo. End of.  
_**

* * *

**13. ****Mistakes**

We made our way through the forest, over the carpet of leaves that were omnipresent, doubtless of season.

Jasper took me through yews and hemlocks and Sitka spruces and cedars, trees whose names I wouldn't have known a few months earlier. Trees were trees. Paper. Wood. Pretty designs to remind the townies that there _was_ life beyond the city limits.

He let me down in a spot that was identical to almost every other place in the forest.

"Um…"

He chuckled and poked the tip of my nose. "Not yet! No, here is just the point where we change speed."

"Change…speed?"

He laughed again, and swung me up and over his back so it was more like a piggyback than a kidnap.

Then he looked back over his shoulder, dark eyes sincere and pleading. "Trust me?"

I thought for a second. "I trust you…in theory. But you do seem to enjoy attempting to give me a coronary."

"Take a deep breath."

I inhaled a deep draft of cool, moist air.

"And hold on tight. Yeesh, Alice, I don't bite."

"Yes you do," I mumbled but tightened my grip so that I was half embracing and half throttling him.

His voice was a whisper of pure joy. "And now…we run!"

Running was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. The trees became incomprehensible blobs of green and brown, the colors blurring together but somehow made brighter by the change. The air stung my cheeks as it whipped past us, and Jasper was so focused that he was projecting – unadulterated waves of exhilaration washed over me where I clung.

Conception and perception were irrevocably altered – it was incredible that I could see anything at all at this speed, but I picked up minute details – the exquisite oval shape of a leaf that whirled past my face, the frightened dark eyes of a tiny creature which peeked from its burrow to watch us pass.

I, of course, was completely terrified.

We had reached our destination in less than a minute but it was one of the most terrifying minutes of my life.

"See?" He said happily, as the wind ceased its whooshing past my skin. "Fun, isn't it?"

"I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Oh. Oops."

Jasper pulled me down and laid me in the bracken, holding my hand as I gulped air dizzily and tried not to vomit on him.

"I told you," I croaked. "I do _not_ like speed."

"You'll have to close your eyes next time."

I groaned. "There will be no next time."

"We'll see."

"We won't."

"Well, you won't. You'll have your eyes shut."

I groaned again and swatted at him. He whisked out of my way in less than a second.

"Stupid vampire," I muttered.

He grinned a happy and idiotic grin.

When my stomach was done feeling like a jacuzzi I pulled myself up.

"This had better be good," I said, glaring at him.

"It is."

"And stop looking so darn happy."

His face took on a look of somber authority that would have been more appropriate in a funeral parlor, but he betrayed his excitement by pulling me through an arch of flowering vines with far too light a step.

The meadow was perfectly circular, and perfectly beautiful – all three hundred sixty degrees of it. The light rain that had ceased – for the moment – had turned every grass spear into a jewel, glittering with a drop of pure crystal. Wildflowers grew here too, in soft butter yellows and stark whites and deep, romantic purples.

"Where…are we?" I gasped, confused by the emotions stirred in me by – what was, in essence – a field.

"It's a place I like to come sometimes. Especially when it's sunny. I can come out here and be Freaky Sparkles Jasper ™ without causing too much trouble."

I recognized his phrasing. "Edward told you?"

"Yes. Nice analogy, by the way."

His eyes met mine and the look in them changed. They became very soft and very gentle black holes, drawing me deeper and deeper into the most wonderful soul imaginable.

I tore my gaze away with an effort. I needed to breathe, and when he looked at me like that…it was kind of hard.

I wanted to explore every inch of the mysterious glade. This was the kind of place that appealed to the adventurer's sense I never quite managed to quash at the back of my head, the sense that told me that speed was good, that vampires were compassionate.

The part of my brain that had brought me to this point in time, with this person, in this, the most perfect of places.

I took one step forward, pulling him with me, and my shoe snagged on a stone. He probably would have caught me, too, if I hadn't been pulling him.

And so it was that I crashed onto the earth that was packed close and hard, despite the rainfall. My teeth came crashing down on my bottom lip, splitting it from end to end, and I felt blood well inside my mouth.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no.

But then I did the most stupid thing imaginable.

I am (as I'm sure I've mentioned before) horrendously squeamish. The sight, the smell, or (wince) taste of blood makes me pass out, regardless of the situation (as I'm sure I've _proved_ before).

So I did the only thing I could do under the circumstances.

I opened my mouth and sprayed the blood wide, just to get the taste of metal away from my tongue.

Straight into the path of my vampire boyfriend, who was less than an inch away.


	15. Who's Loving Whom?

**_I felt I couldn't leave you all hanging...it was too mean. We have something in the way of a Bella-esque chapter at this point, with all the musing etc, with a bit of Alice-like craziness thrown in for some spice.  
In regards to _****_Freaky Sparkles Jasper TM - don't worry, the assembly line will begin soon *chuckles maniacally*  
_**_**We're nearing 100 reviews, guys...so keep on reviewing! I may not update any more this week - exams have rolled round again and I really must get my head down or fail.  
I love you all.**_  
**

* * *

14. ****Who's Loving Whom?**

I don't think either of us breathed for a very long moment. In his case, it was because breathing would result in my death. In mine, it was because I was so appalled at what I had done.

I squeezed my eyes shut to stop the tears; I didn't want to make him feel any worse. But I needed a doctor. My lip might need a stitch. The problem was, moving could very easily lead to my demise.

So neither of us moved. I lay there with my lip throbbing, thanking God that it was my lip and not my face, because lips healed quicker, didn't they?

Surprisingly enough however, I was not worried about Jasper's teeth making contact with my skin.

I was worried about _him_.

I found myself irrationally worrying about how he would feel if he killed me.

_What are you doing?!_ The rational side of my brain shrieked. _Run! Run, run, run!_

_What's the point?_ Asked the clearly suicidal part. _He'd just catch me anyway. Better to stay still and pray it's less painful_.

_Shut up!_ I mentally screamed at them both.

Then I lifted my head, and stared Jasper right in the eyes.

"I trust you," I declared quietly.

His jaw was strained tighter than a rubber band but he nodded once, stiffly.

"I have to leave for a little while."

I nodded, but knew I looked worried. I had no idea how to get back!

He smiled a little. "Don't worry. I won't be far, and I'll be back soon. It's just…hunting will make this easier. For both of us."

"Take as long as you need," I whispered, almost not daring to raise my voice. "I love you."

He muttered something as he sped away. It sounded like, "Well, that's a miracle…"

After he had left, I slapped my forehead, á la Esme.

"Why?" I growled at myself. "Why do you have to be so stupid?! So stupid and…and…and _human_!"

I froze.

What?

Until that moment, I had had no issues with my mortality. None whatsoever. I quite enjoyed having a beating heart. And now I was berating myself just for being human?

I growled in frustration and rolled over on my back so the light precipitation could wash the last of the blood off my face.

Where were these new feelings coming from?

Then I realized.

I wanted to be stronger…for him.

I'd said I'd loved Jasper before. But did I really mean it? The whole throw-yourself-into-the-fires-of-hell-to-save-the-one-you-love sort of love?

I did now.

I think I knew from the moment I looked my own death in the eyes and worried for his safety. His sanity. I think I knew when I scolded myself for being human. For not being strong enough to protect him from what I was.

Jasper saw himself as a demon.

But out of the two of us, it was he who most needed protecting. From me. From the million and one temptations I brought to the table every single day I loved him.

There were two types of heartache going on here. We both were desperate to protect the other from what we truly were.

Would I jump into the fires of hell for him?

Yes. Because I'd burn for a thousand years before he had a minute of suffering.

Would I take a bullet for him?

Well, aside from the whole bulletproof factor, yes. After all, he'd taken one for me.

What wouldn't I do for him?

Nothing. There was nothing I wouldn't do.

My dark thoughts suddenly took a new course, sweeping me up and over the edge of my despair with a new revelation. It was simple.

I was in love. L-O-V-E. Not lust. Not like. Love.

I remembered a million different conversations with my mother (mostly about the now blurry entity of Jake Hoffman), where she had insisted that love did not exist under the age of twenty five.

That was obviously, of course, because she had never felt like someone had put clouds in her shoes, and that she was now floating upwards, heading towards the endless miles of blue sky…

Actually, I didn't mind that the sky was a steely gray. I had kind of learnt to love Forks. I suppose it was because I loved him.

When I arrived, Forks and Jasper had both been such unknowns. The former had been the dull and vapid destination of my exile. The latter had been the most irritating person I had ever met.

They simply existed together for me now, two parts of a puzzle, and I was connected to both of them.

The rare sunlight was important because it had showed me his true nature. The rain was important because it had given me the opportunity to be loud and arrogant about my views and get him to notice me.

Even the trees were important, I realized, an organic part of everything. So much in Forks was made from _wood_. And that one, tall, straight spruce right by my window. Had it been his first jumping off point? The first time he'd ever come to watch over me?

"I like the trees," I giggled quietly to myself. Then exultantly, "I like the treeeees!"

My heart had swollen to double size and was beating double time but I didn't care.

I was so euphoric that I didn't even hear the approach of the hunter as he made his way quietly towards me through the ferns, placing each footstep so as not to crack a twig and give himself away.

He moved silent and supple as a cat, stalking me through the long grass. Every muscle was tense and coiled; every thought was on the attack. The scent of my blood lay thick and heavy in the air. He growled softly, and ran his tongue over his glistening canines.

Then, he sprang.

* * *

_**Sorry, sorry, sorry (!) for another cliffhanger! *ducks flying objects* I do still love you guys! *ducks flying piano* Who let Edward in here?**_


	16. Hit Me With Your Best Shot

**_We're past 100 - oh my Edward! I love you guys!  
Warning: This chapter is a bit on the melodramatic side, as Alice tends to do things properly. Where Bella almost faints, Alice _really_ faints. Enjoy._**

* * *

**15. Hit Me With Your Best Shot**

The lithe form shot from the grass in one fluid and almost timeless moment, heading straight for the exposed skin of my neck. I screamed but didn't even have the time to roll before he hit me.

"Gotcha," He said triumphantly, pressing his lips to the wildly beating pulse in my throat.

"Jasper?" I panted.

He looked up, all golden eyed innocence. "Yes?"

"Oh, nothing," I growled. "Just the whole be-still-my-beating-heart-because-you-were-aiming-for-my-jugular thing."

"Were you scared?"

"Nope. Not in the slightest. Not even a little bit. Nope."

He hung above me in the air; his close lips an almost irresistible temptation. "Liar," He said softly, catching and holding me in his now burning (in both expression and color) gaze.

"Don't do that," I said sternly.

"Why?"

"Because it makes me really, badly want to kiss you."

"Is that such a bad thing?" He asked, amused.

"Well, no, not normally," I conceded. "However I have something to say and it would be really useful if I didn't go off into fantasy land right now."

"You are already in fantasy land, sort of," He pointed out, but gestured with his hand for me to relay my news.

"I…I love you."

He raised an eyebrow. "Did you not…before?"

"Yes, yes, of course," I continued hurriedly. "But now I really – _really_ – love you."

"But you...did before?"

"Jasper, just because I love a dog does not mean I am _in_ love with that dog."

"You'd better not be in love with any dogs," He muttered darkly.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Please – " He crooked a pale finger. "Go on."

"What I finally realized," I said. "Is that I am _in_ love with you. And you are with me, I think."

His ocher eyes blazed fiercely into mine and he caught my face in a grip like steel, tilting it up to his and bringing his lips down on mine with tremendous force. This kiss was not like our others – less careful, less controlled.

But the real difference was the _feelings_ behind it. Emotions were raw, almost painful in their intensity.

We were no longer separated by the differences of age, tradition, or even species. Instead they bound us together, tighter than even his marble arms could hold me.

When we finally broke apart, he didn't let me go.

"Believe me now?"

I was dazed, both from the lack of oxygen and the pounding of my heart in my ears.

"You…I…" I began, but the sheer shock of the unexpected onslaught overwhelmed me, and I passed out.

* * *

When I came round, my head was in his lap and he was delicately plaiting purples flowers into the mess of my dark hair.

"You really must stop doing that," He said conversationally.

"Stop what?" I asked, still slightly breathless. "The whole passing out thing? Or the fact that my heart now works as a proximity alarm?"

He considered. "I'll say yes to the first, but no to the second. I rather enjoy your heartbeat."

I flushed. "I don't."

We stayed perfectly still - me and my hunter, both breathing shallowly while I tried to slow the rapid beat of my pulse.

When he had finished, he said, "We make a most bizarre couple, you and I."

"Yes," I agreed. "Cat and mouse."

"Lion and antelope."

"Wolf and lamb."

"Yes," He sighed. "Predator and prey. Now, today is the day that our relationship has to change – completely."

"Why?"

"Because," He said, ruffling my hair without dislodging a single bloom. "Your parents are home today. No more saving you from burglars. No more ice cream sundaes. No more chick flicks."

"No more nightly visits?" I inquired.

He grinned wickedly. "You can't get rid of me that easily. And every hour your parents allow, I'll be with you. And every hour they're not aware of my presence, I'll be with you still."

"Sounds good."

"Sounds perfect."

I might have fallen asleep except for the fact that it was, as per usual, raining.

It was just so peaceful and halcyon in the meadow, as Jasper hummed out strands of tunes I'd never heard before and fiddled with strands of my hair.

Out of the blue he stood up, and my head hit the ground with a thump.

"Ooof!"

"Sorry."

He picked me up again, and I clung to his neck as I had before.

"I really, really object to running, you know."

"I know. But we have somewhere to be, and introductions must be made. Permission must, of course, be obtained."

"Introductions? And permission? For what?"

"Your parents are home."

"You've met my mom."

"But not your father. And I haven't asked for his consent yet."

"For _what_?"

"For me dating you, naturally." He sounded a little indignant.

"Jasper, we're dating, not getting married!"

"I could apply for that at the same time, if you wish."

"So we _ARE_ getting married?"

"Not now."

"You haven't even _asked_ me yet!"

But the motion of his run cut off any further argument. I closed my eyes tight and buried my face in his shoulder.

"Stupid vampire," I snuffled.


	17. Too Much Information

**_The Spanish oral went well! I'm sooooo pleased! We're getting close to the finish line, too! I'm so excited. And Deep South (my version of New Moon) is literally fighting its way out of my head, so I'm feeling muy muy fabuloso!  
_

* * *

16. Too Much Information**

"What are my parents going to think," I inquired after we'd reached the bike. "If we roar up on a motorcycle? That's every father's worst nightmare. Not to mention the fact that we've been _alone_ in the house for a whole week."

"Am I not nightmarish enough, then?" He asked, mouth drooping comically. Then he grinned. "We'll have to be sneaky."

So we drove 'The Beast' (very accurately nicknamed, I think, by yours truly) back until we were _almost_ at my house.

Then we hid it in a bush.

My mom's BMW was in the drive, and the trunk appeared to be empty. However, I didn't really want to reveal myself just yet. I'd wait in the kitchen for a little while.

I crept quietly around to the back door (recently fixed by yours truly's vampire boyfriend's vampire brother) and inched it open.

My parents were in there, alright.

In there…kissing.

_Very_ kissing.

I closed the door again (very quietly), and then sprinted across the road.

"What?" Jasper asked, seeing my shocked face. "What is it, what's wrong?"

"They…are…_kissing_." I said, very slowly and calmly. And then started ranting.

"They had to do this, didn't they, just had to…the one time I bring home a vaguely sane person – well, you're not even vaguely sane but whatever – they decide it's time for a make out session?! And in the kitchen? Who makes out in a kitchen?"

"Us?" Jasper pointed out.

"_We_ do not count!" I hissed. "Old people kissing…ew…"

"You realize what we do is vaguely like old people kissing? I am almost 150 years older than you."

I glared at him. "As I said, _we_ do not count. You will never go all pruney on me."

He took my hand. "Shall we go and…interrupt?"

"Please do."

The strategy we decided on was to go into the house talking _really_ loudly.

But when we entered (through the front door, this time), we saw there was no need. My parents were sitting casually in the living room with the remains of their dinner (was it really so late?). My mom was reading a book while my dad flicked companionably through the TV channels with the volume turned down.

"Hey guys," She said, looking up from her Tom Clancy. "How was your day?"

"It was great, Mom," I replied, hugging her.

"Hi Jasper," My mom cooed, then mock pouted for my benefit. "Has she been too much trouble?"

"None at all, ma'am. But I would like to ask something of you, sir," He said, gesturing deferentially to my dad, who put down the remote and folded his hands.

"Don't do this," I whispered in his ear, but Jasper just grinned another evil grin.

"Mr. Brandon," He said. "Do I have your permission to date your daughter?"

My poor dad almost jumped out of skin. He looked first to my mom (who looked rather smug) and then to me for help.

"Um, why, of course, young man," He stuttered.

Oh my God.

My dad just called Jasper 'young man'.

It's official.

My life is over.

"Thank you very much, sir," said Jasper respectfully, and I swear if he'd had a hat he would have tipped it.

"Such a gentlemen," Mom said silkily. "So Jasper – when's the first date?"

It was Jasper's turn to look completely thunderstruck.

"Tomorrow," I replied quickly, poking him to speed his recovery.

"Yes," He said mechanically. "We're…um…"

"Playing baseball with his family," I supplied, wishing he had toes that I could tread on without making my feet hemorrhage.

"Okay then. Jasper, Alice – would you like some dinner?"

"Jasper has to go now," I said, scowling at him. "Besides – he already ate."

I pushed him towards the door, murmuring in an undertone, "You have a game to organize. Do it quickly. Be back soon. I still love you. Sort of. Ignore my mother. And if you go all Southern gentleman on me _ever_ again, I'll flambé your ass. Now go!"

I pushed him backwards out the door, and waited for the sound of the bike's engine before I tried anything with my parents.

"Phew," My dad said from inside the living room. "I haven't been called 'sir' since that drunk guy tried to get me not to call his insurers. She sure knows how to pick 'em."

"She does, doesn't she?" My mom purred. "And weren't they so sweet – him all tall and fair and her all small and dark, as if they were made for each other. Isn't it wonderful?"

My dad coughed. "Sure, honey. I'm just going up to bed now. I'll see you…erm…in a bit."

"Of course darling," Mom said sweetly. "I just have to talk to Alice first."

She whipped round the door and pulled me inside the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Are you being safe?" She demanded.

No.

Not happening.

Where was the giant hole in the floor when you needed one?

"Uh, Mom," I said tentatively, my cheeks on fire. "It isn't like that. I mean, we…it's not like that for us."

"That's all men think about," My mother said brusquely. "I mean, even your father – "

I clapped my hands over my ears. "MOM!" I yelled. "TMI, TMI!"

"TMI, honey?"

"Too Much Information," I stated. "I'm going to bed now, before you can corrupt my childish innocence any further."

I was heading toward the stairs when a thought struck me, along with the memory of my mom's almost smug smile…

"Mom?"

She stuck her head back round the living room door. "What is it, honey?"

"How did you…I mean, how did you…you looked like…you knew," I accused her. "You knew we were dating before we told you. How?"

Her face softened. "Alice, baby. You've never been able to braid the back of your hair yourself. So when I saw the flowers – " I self consciously touched the back of my head. "I knew." She sighed. "He seems like such a romantic. Is he a keeper, though? Because it seems not long ago you were going on about this Jake guy and how you were his suburban muse, or something."

A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. "Yeah. He's a keeper."


	18. Fear And Loathing In Forks

**_ A little present, because I love you all so very dearly. And big love to all the Bellas out there who are not THE Bella, just Bellas.  
And the experience with the quilt (you're all excited now, aren't you, you minxes) is based on what really happened to me. Unfortunately, Jasper was not involved. Life sucks.  
_

* * *

17. Fear And Loathing (In Forks)**

Almost before I'd closed the door I felt his cool arms around my waist and his lips press softly in my hair.

"I missed you," He murmured.

"I couldn't have been more than a few minutes."

"All the same…" He inhaled deeply. "Ah, violet. On top of your scent, that is…heavenly."

"I have a scent?" I queried.

He seemed surprised by my question. I suppose when smell is the strongest sense you possess, you kind of get used to it being that way.

"Yes. Yours isn't the most tempting I've ever come across but it comes very, very close." He inhaled again. "Like…strawberries, almost. But a kind that _does_ appeal to me."

In one quick movement, he whirled me round so my back was against the door, pinning me in place by my shoulders.

"Everything's set for tomorrow. You've made Emmett one very happy vampire."

"I didn't think of that," I croaked, because it was very hard trying to talk when he was looking at me like that. "He almost broke my fingers when we played _catch_!"

He leaned in so we were inches away, and so I was almost intoxicated by the mouthwatering aroma that hung around him. Was it like how I smelled to him?

"Which is why you'll be umpiring," He whispered.

I gulped. "Well, that's…okay, I guess."

He came even closer, so our lips _almost_ brushed.

"Stop it," I groaned. "You're driving me crazy again!"

He carefully kissed my temples, cool lips a flash burn on my skin. "Crazy?"

"Yes," I said, practically melting into a puddle. "Stop being so mean and kiss me already, if that is in fact what your plan is, and you're not going for my neck."

With which of course, he lunged for my neck. "You were saying? With Dracula at your throat, you might want to rephrase your answer."

"You don't scare me," I said, blasé.

He growled then, low and playful, deep down in his throat. "You might want to rethink that answer."

"Nope." I brazened it out. "In fact, I've never even found you vaguely scary."

He moved me in another lightning fast movement so that I was behind him, my back to the bed.

I realized what he was planning. "You wouldn't."

"Try me." He smiled, lips curling back over his glistening teeth. Then he leapt into the air.

I have no idea how he managed to land so silently. The floorboards didn't even creak, though he took me with him; spread eagling me on my own bed in a mockery of the way I'd restrained him a little while ago.

"Pax?" I asked hopefully.

"No pax."

"This is against my human rights, you know."

He rolled his eyes. "And heaven forbid I should be in breach of _those_."

He let me up and I duly kissed/hit him for annoying me, i.e. I tried to hit him but he grabbed my arms and gave me _the look_ and my willpower took a brief vacation to Honolulu.

I got back at him in my own special way. He went out the window while I changed (because my mom's totally going to notice if I start changing in the bathroom after seventeen years). I put on some nice, snuggly flannels and got into bed all by myself, because that's what big girls (who are in no way trying to irritate their vampire boyfriends) do.

"You can come in," I called.

He did.

"Alice. Why have you got your feet on the pillow and your head under the quilt?"

"Simply," I said, my voice muffled by layers of sheet. "Because I am getting my revenge on you for your attempt to make me spontaneously combust. Again."

"So I am – "

"Going to have to watch my feet all night, yes."

With one swift tug, he pulled off the eiderdown, to find me quite serene (though most probably not quite sane) underneath.

"Though I'd advise you take a picture. It'll last longer."

He tucked my legs up so I was in a ball, lay down next to me and laid the quilt ceremonially over us both.

To an outsider, we would have looked like only one thing…

A giant lump in a bed.

"Do you enjoy annoying me?" He asked. His skin gave the darkness a wonderful white luminescence.

"Just because we're dating," I said. "Does not mean I no longer have the right to annoy you. We have not made a contract that states – "

But my lips were suddenly very busy on other matters.

In the end however, I slept with my head not on the pillow, but on Jasper's chest (with the added padding of an afghan). I didn't want to freeze to death, which is an occupational hazard of dating a dead man walking.

* * *

Sometime near dawn I woke up to see pink light streaming in through the window, and my room on fire with a million refractions of the beams on Jasper's skin.

"You're kind of beautiful, you know." I said grudgingly.

"Thank you. By the way, you're still beautiful – even when your hair looks like a nest."

"Where else would my pets sleep?" I asked innocently, laying my hand on the cool, sparkling skin, and watching the shimmers on my fingers.

"I honestly don't scare you?" He asked after a while.

I leaned my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

"No. And the first time – " I trailed my hand up his arm to indicate what I was talking about. "I think I was just shocked more than anything. And slightly annoyed."

"Why?"

I opened my eyes. "Because you didn't tell me! Well, I suppose you did, but…"

"Not earlier?"

"Exactly."

"I'm the kind of creature who would make most people run a mile. You have run a mile, but that's only because you were hanging on to me at the time." He smiled. "What makes you so different?"

"Interesting question," I mused. "I don't know. A mix of things, I suppose. I've always been interested in new things. And of course you have the whole bad boy thing down while being so utterly _good_. And the fact that you're totally gorgeous is a factor, of course."

He gave me a light flick. "On the other hand, I know exactly why I'm attracted to you."

"Dazzling wit?" I suggested. "Model girl looks? Perfect personality?"

"You're not very human, you know," He interrupted. "You're so…_other_. What makes you tick isn't the same as for everyone else."

He turned and looked me straight in the eyes. "I don't know why," He began. "But from the moment I met you – from the first moment you pissed me off – I felt very…protective of you. Plus, no offense Alice," He took my hands so I couldn't hit him. "But you are very small. And you seem so…fragile."

"Fragile?"

"Yes. Like if I dropped you you'd shatter into a million shards of crystal."

"Look who's talking." I prodded him affectionately. He laughed.

"Plus, you seem to be lacking a guardian angel. Look at all the bad things that happen to you."

"So I got a…guardian vampire?" I tried.

"Perhaps."

I went back to sleep as the light gradually became dimmer and greener. I was happy - it meant that we could be together.


	19. Hurricane

**_We're getting really close to the action! I know I'm bombarding you, but keep reviewing! It gives me warm fuzzies...  
_

* * *

18. ****Hurricane**

The rain was sheeting on the evening of my interview with the vampire, and when I opened the door Jasper was drenched, his blond hair slick to his scalp.

"You're all wet," I said intelligently.

He had to stand on the mat for a good minute and a half before I could officially let him in. My mom would've freaked out at any puddles on her carpet.

"Mom! We're going! Don't come – "

"Oh, you're going are you, honey?" My mom said, practically running down the stairs in her eagerness to see me off.

"Down," I finished, lamely.

"But it's so wet!"

"Mom, it's a rare day in Forks when it _isn't_ wet. Being in Arizona must have gone to your brain." I stepped into my boots and buttoned up my parka, pulling a scarf off its hook. "I won't be too long, okay?"

"Oh no, baby," My mom said, absentmindedly patting my hood. "You take as long as you want. It's not like you have school tomorrow or anything. And you have the next week off."

This threw me for a minute. "Why?"

"They found asbestos there. Shocking, isn't it? How they couldn't have found _that_ out earlier..." She trailed off. "You're gonna have to wait until it's all cleared out before you have class again."

"Well, okay." I gave her a quick hug. "Later, Mom."

"See you soon, sweetie."

Jasper took my hand and we stepped out into the deluge.

"Did you know?" I shouted, straining to make my voice heard over the distant rolls of thunder and howl of the wind. It was more for my benefit than his – he could've heard what I was saying if we were playing Chinese whispers.

"About what?" He yelled.

"The whole week off thing!"

"No!"

"Okay!"

A particular vicious gust of wind sucked me backwards and Jasper clamped his arms round my waist.

"I think I'll have to carry you to the car!"

I peered into the darkness. "That's a car?"

It looked more like a dragon, scarlet, huge, and caked in mud. The tires of the Jeep were practically at the level of my chest.

"I don't like it!"

"Would you prefer to run? In this?" He gestured expansively to the small hurricane whipping up around us.

"Good point!"

Once safely installed in the car, Jasper strapped me into about a million buckles.

"Worried I'll blow away?" I asked.

"Nope." He grinned. "This is an off-roading harness. And we're off-roading."

* * *

"Jasper!" I screamed for about the zillionth time as we did a one eighty and almost ended up in the sea. "If you weren't dead all ready, you'd be so dead that sushi would look like it was glowing with health!"

He laughed. "Enjoying it?"

"Once we get out of this car – thing – " I corrected. "I'm going to beat you senseless. I don't care if I break all my bones in the process."

"Hold that thought," He said, slamming on the brake and almost catapulting me through the windscreen. "We're here."

Unbeknownst to me (as I was rather busy being homicidal at the time), we had arrived at the edge of a massive clearing, bordered by thick firs on all sides. The Cullens were there already, all looking very wet and very excited.

Bella sped to my side once I'd freed myself from the harness and maneuvered out of the car.

"Good choice," She yelled. "Perfect weather for it!"

"Why?" I hollered back.

"We need thunder to play! It gets really loud otherwise!"

"Do you play?"

"No, I umpire! Even when I was mortal I've couldn't hit a ball to save my life!"

"Stop yelling and run her over!" Jasper shouted, climbing out of the Jeep. "She'll drown in mud otherwise!"

Bella eyed me speculatively.

"May I?" She inquired in a slightly quieter voice.

"You may."

She scooped me up in her arms and ran me over to where everyone else was. Emmett pulled down my hood and shoved his baseball cap on my head.

"Better," He said.

"Should we perhaps play some ball now?" Carlisle asked, his articulation flawless, though I could barely hear him over the roar of the gale.

Bella nodded. "Come on, Alice. We'll go and sit on that rise over there and make sure they don't cheat."

The storm seemed to move over a little as we walked/swam, like someone had given it a good nudge with their elbow. Town would be halfway into a maelstrom, but the baseball field became a lot easier to navigate.

"Do they often cheat?" I asked Bella as she pulled me up the last few feet onto the knoll.

"Jasper does. Emmett does. Carlisle – never. Esme – never. I'm not so sure about Rosalie." She thought for a second. "I've never actually caught Edward – he's too fast. But I'm pretty sure he does too."

"What use am I?" I wondered.

Bella grinned, her long dark hair hanging heavy with moisture. "Moral support. And you're part of the family now."

_You're part of the family now…_it sounded nice. I smiled.

I looked out into midfield, where Edward was tense and alert on the pitcher's mound. Bella smiled fondly at him.

"He's so much better at speed," She said. "Fastest out of all of us, you know. I don't know why he's pitching."

"Ball speed?"

"Maybe. But he does like to run."

She mulled over it for a few seconds, brushing damp tendrils of hair out of her eyes. Then she smiled at me. "Would you care to do the honors?"

"If you insist."

I walked to the edge of the small rise, where it began to slope back down to the field again.

"Alright," I called, as the thunder boomed overhead. "Batter up."

* * *

_**I will be eternally grateful to anyone who PMs me and explains baseball for the next scene. No one plays it over here, and I get really confused as to what I'm saying half the time. Love you!**_


	20. Supermassive Black Hole

**_Firstly I'd like to point out how very stupid I am by not knowing that baseball is what we call rounders! For those of you not in the know, the only differences are that the balls are softer (so the catcher doesn't need a mitt), a home run is called a rounder, getting to second base is called half a rounder, and a catcher is called a back stop. Oh, and it's considered a really girly sport, and most guys won't play it for that reason.  
This chapter dedication is split three ways -  
For KiwiBlossom, for a truly touching PM, and I hope your computer gets well soon,  
For Jaina 12, for not only explaining baseball, but how vampires might cheat at it (which is in this chapter, as per her recommendation), and  
_**_**For every Year 11 at Hazelwick School doing their mocks right now. Hang in there, guys!**_**

* * *

19. Supermassive Black Hole**

Jasper strode casually up to the plate, flicking a bat back and forth between his palm and his fingers. He was effortless, beautiful – and it still made my breath catch to look at him. He flashed a dazzling smile my way, and my heart palpitated.

"Easy," Bella whispered, but I could hear the smile in her voice.

Edward waited while Jasper took his stance. Then he wound himself up and unleashed with a strike like a cobra.

The ball left his hand with a sound like a whip, and I wouldn't have noticed its passing were it not for the whistle of the bat as it turned in the air, hitting the ball with an almighty _crack_.

Jasper began to run, speeding up so he was just a blur to my weak human eyes.

"Stop!" Bella called out, and everyone halted mid-whatever-it-was-they-were-doing. "Jasper, you didn't hit second base."

He folded his arms. "Did."

"Didn't."

"Did."

"Didn't."

"Did!"

"Alice," Rosalie called to me. "What do you think?"

"Hey, that's not fair, Rose," Bella interjected. "She has to say he did or Jasper'll get mad."

"Actually," I cut in, clearing my throat. "I may be head over heels, but that doesn't mean I trust him. Can we have a vote on whether Jasper hit the base or not? All hands up for he did."

One hand – Jasper's.

"And for he didn't?"

All hands, except Jasper's. Carlisle and Esme had abstained on either side.

"So it's settled," I said, grinning at a scowling Jasper. "You're out."

"Sycophantic human," He muttered.

"No good cheating vampire," I replied, and his mouth twitched, so I knew I was forgiven.

The game was like nothing I had ever seen before – speed, skill, agility – they had it all. Halfway through, at Edward's insistence, Bella traded off with Rosalie and the gorgeous immortal came to join me on my little hill.

"Enjoying it?" Jasper's 'twin' asked.

"It's definitely a lot more eventful than normal baseball. And the athletes are prettier."

Rosalie laughed and tossed her blonde curls. "I guess you could say that."

There was a particularly vicious crash of thunder overhead and a violent blast of wind. Rosalie stiffened at my side. Everyone in the field below froze too, Emmett halfway to third base. Then in a flash they were beside us, grouped loosely around me on the hillock.

"Oh my God," Rosalie whispered, her perfect eyes horror filled. "Oh no."

"Can you make it?" Carlisle asked Jasper quietly, but Jasper shook his head. "How about Edward? Edward, could you take her?"

Edward shook his head, his eyes blank. "Too close. The last thing we want is for them to pick up the trail and start hunting."

"What's going on?" I whispered, surprised by the way my voice cracked.

No one answered.

"_What_?" I demanded.

Bella slipped away from Edward's side and came to me, wrapping her arms around my torso.

"There are other vampires coming," She said, in my ear. "And they aren't like us."

"You mean – "

"Yes, that is what I mean. One of us could get you away but a fresh human trail would be – " She paused. "Irresistible."

"So? What do we do?" I looked around at the anxious vampires who surrounded me, some turned outwards so we had a pair of eyes in every direction.

"I don't know," Bella said softly. "But you are pretty pale…and your eyes are dark. From a distance, you could – "

Esme's face lit up in quiet awe. "That might actually work. Your hair's short, so it shouldn't carry the scent, and if we steer you away from the wind then we might – "

"Have some time," Jasper supplemented, eyes fixed on me.

I silently praised the day when Paolo at the _C'est Magnifique!_ salon had taken 'a few inches' to mean 'a few inches long'.

My heart was drumming nonetheless, and Bella rubbed gentle circles on my back.

"It'll be alright," She soothed, pressing her head on top of mine so I was shielded by her long hair.

"How long can you hold her for?" Emmett asked, looking pensive.

"Indefinitely," Bella said, scowling.

"Well, hang on to her then. Better still, pass her to Jasper."

Bella's eyes lit up. "Male and female vampire – "

"Will create an entirely new scent, yes. She won't be recognizable as either of you."

"Why not all of us, then?" Esme suggested. "The more of a blend she has then the less likely it is that a single one will be discernible. What do you think, Carlisle?"

Carlisle nodded, but looked at his family. "Can you all handle this?"

"Alice is our sister," Rosalie said definitely, putting her hand on my shoulder. "We _will_ protect her."

Carlisle turned to me. "Is that alright with you, Alice?"

I pretended to think about it. "Hmmm, a group hug from vegetarians or being ex-sanguinated? You know what? I've never been adverse to hugs."

Bella laughed and bent her head over mine again, Jasper taking my back and Edward and Emmett flanking me on either side. Rosalie, Carlisle and Esme formed a ring around us, sealing in as much scent as possible.

Another chill wind whipped across the glade and I shivered, crushed between ice cold vampires as I was. The only warmth was provided by friction from their clothing.

"This'll help too," said Jasper in my ear. "The colder you are, the longer it'll take for them to notice you. Okay," He said, raising his voice, though he hardly needed to. "Get ready to break. They're coming."


	21. Fool

**_Are you excited? I know I am!  
BTW, I know James is described differently in the book, but Cam Gigandet is one of those stick in your head guys. So I know that James in the film looks more like Garrett, but what the hey. I'm game if you are.  
_

* * *

20. Fool**

They came upon us in a line, and my first thought was that they looked like warriors.

My second, with a twist of the insides, was that they probably were.

The two on the flanks fell back in a smooth movement so that they approached us like an arrowhead.

The leader was indisputably the most beautiful. Coal back corn rows hung far past his shoulders, and his pallor was oddly olive tinted.

The woman had nothing too descript about her beauty, except her hair – it hung like a ripple of flame, snarling up around her when she moved. Her gait reminded me of a lioness – smooth, sinuous, and prowling.

The other man had sandy hair pulled back from his face, but if not for the paleness of his skin, he might have passed as a human. He was attractive, certainly – but nothing extraordinary. A plain vampire.

As they drew closer an intense shiver ran down my spine. Their irises were a deep, deep red.

We headed down the slope to meet them, Jasper pulling me back but trying to keep it casual looking, putting an arm around me so there was as little of me on display as possible.

"Greetings," said the leader. "I'm Laurent, and these are Victoria and James."

The woman gave an elegant flick of her fingers, and the sandy haired man inclined his head.

"Greetings, nomads," said Carlisle. "We thought we smelt someone around here. I'm Carlisle Cullen, and this is my family," He gestured about him.

"A family?" The woman (_Victoria_, I thought) purred. "Not a coven?"

"No." Carlisle shook his head. "We maintain a permanent residence, so we prefer to think of ourselves as a family."

Victoria raised her perfect brows.

"And are you all paired off?" Laurent asked. His eyes flicked first to Rosalie, and then to me. He winked.

Carlisle gave a dry chuckle. "Yes. Forgive for not introducing them to you. This is my wife, Esme. Then there's Emmett and Rosalie – Edward and Bella – and that at the back is Jasper, with his mate Alice."

Mate. The word was strange, bestial.

"Such a shame," Laurent sighed. "And the little dark one looked like she could be such fun."

Jasper snarled quietly, and Victoria smothered a laugh with her hand.

"Do you have room for any more players?" Laurent asked, ignoring Jasper's offensive. "We heard a game, so…"

"Of course." Carlisle smiled. "A few of us were just leaving. Bella isn't too fond of baseball."

Bella grinned, and I blessed her for taking the heat off me. "Never could stand it."

A strand of her hair lifted and stirred across one cheek. I didn't comprehend what it meant until the whole contingent of vegetarian vampires was in battle formation before me.

James' eyes bulged, and Victoria clung to his arm, pulling him back, looking almost scared. The expression, I realized, was too alien on her perfect face. Vampires didn't get scared. What did the creatures of nightmares have to be scared of?

"A human?" Laurent hissed. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with your food?"

The words ripped from Jasper's lips. "She…is…mine."

"Your what?" Victoria interjected. "Your dinner?"

"I didn't say she was my _prey_," Jasper growled through his teeth, and Edward grabbed him. Hard.

"I think maybe you should leave," Carlisle said, his voice harder than I'd ever heard it. Anger did not suit his compassionate, careful features.

"I agree," said Laurent, and for the first time I heard a trace of accent in his voice. What was it? French?

Bella carefully picked me up, never taking her eyes off the nomads. Edward gripped Jasper firmly and began to pull him slowly backwards. His words were low in Jasper's ear.

"Think, Jazz…you've got to get Alice out of here. Alice. Think of Alice. Snap out of it!"

Jasper did, and he and Edward retreated behind me and Bella as I clambered onto her back. Every stride through the forest made my heart kick with fear, though whether it was from the run or my close encounter of the worst kind, I couldn't say.

* * *

Bella pulled me into the back seat, wrapping her arms around me in lieu of the million buckles which we clearly did not have time to do. Edward slid in beside Jasper and we rocketed off down the road at a simply colossal speed.

"Jazz, it's worse than you think," Edward said. "She's his singer."

Jasper turned so sharply that I had to cling to Bella so as not to go out the window.

"What?" She gasped, holding me tighter, as if trying to shield me from the news.

"Wait – I'm James' singer? What does that mean?" I was puzzled. Being a _singer_ didn't sound half so bad as being _prey_…

Edward swiveled in his seat to face me. "You see, Alice," He began. "Very rarely someone's blood holds more…_power_ over a vampire than a normal human's does. It is a million times more potent. Bella was my singer. I had to fight not to kill her every day of her human life."

His singer reached forward and caressed his cheek with gentle white fingers. "But you didn't," She reminded him.

The look between them then made my eyes and my heart ache. Gold eyes into gold. White skin to white. Two non beating hearts in rhythm.

"It's rare," He continued. "This means James will be tracking you ten times harder. You are the focal point of his entire existence now. It might have started out as a game – but now your blood is the only thing he wants, and he would sell his soul to taste it. That is, if he had one."

"_Il suo cantante_," said Bella fluently. "Your blood sings for him."

"So?"

"So it means we're leaving," Jasper said flatly. "Now."

"No!" I yelled. "What about my parents, Jasper? They know I was with you, they'll hunt you, and they'll track you down and they'll find out, they'll find out everything!"

"I don't _care_!" He roared, turning in his seat to face me and not swerving an inch. "Your parents can think what they like! It's _you_ I'm worried about!"

I tried to go for him with my fists but Bella wouldn't let me.

"_WHAT ABOUT THEM_?" I howled, glaring at him with as much ferocity as I could muster. "They're my parents, Jasper! I love them, and I love you, but I am _not_ choosing between you! Take me home now!"

"No!"

"What is it that you want, Jasper? For James to find them? For him to smell me, and find them? He'll kill them, he'll kill them, I know he will!"

"No one's going to let anything happen to them, Alice," Edward said, turning in his seat and brushing my cheek once with his icy fingers. "Jasper, take us to the house."

"_Why_?"

"Because I think a little perspective might be needed here. If Alice can persuade her parents she's going to – I don't know, Phoenix – then we might stand a chance. We _could_ take them down. But you'll lose some of us. And I know who."

I looked at Bella.

She sighed, and there was a faint twitch to the corner of her mouth. "Macho males," She said. "They think just because we're their mates and all means we can't defend ourselves."

"So where _do_ we take her?" Jasper asked suddenly. "I mean, really."

"Phoenix." The idea had formed in my mind almost as the words left my mouth.

"_What_?" They were all looking at me like I was crazy.

"No, seriously. I mean, if we say it loudly enough then he'll – "

"Know that's exactly where you're going?"

"_NO_!" I flapped my hands about. "I mean, like – 'I'm going to _Phoenix_, Mom, back to where I _belong_!'"

Bella chuckled quietly. "It's a good plan, Jasper."

He leant forward so that his head was almost touching the wheel. Then suddenly, he wrenched it around.

Bella hung on to me as I careered wildly, but I had eyes only for Jasper.

"Thank you," I said quietly.


	22. A Lie And A Tear

**_Pendulum - Propane Nightmares. Best song to write to. Ever. If you haven't listened to it, go and do so immediately. Better still, listen to it while you're reading. It helps you get the feel of what it is I do.  
_

* * *

21. A Lie And A Tear**

I prayed for a miracle, and it appeared that God was on my side (for once). The house was dark, and I had to unlock the door in order to enter, quiet as a very quiet mouse.

Jasper dogged my footsteps while Edward ran round the back and Bella took the front way and the car.

Beginning to cry, I took a fresh sheet of paper and a pen from the pad beside the phone, and began to write.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_I can't take this anymore. I can't take the rain. I can't take never seeing the sun. I can't take the sheer hickness of this town, and the way it makes me miss Phoenix to the core._

_So I'm leaving. I'm going back to stay at Grandma Marie's, as I still have a key. I'll call you when I'm there._

Something about it didn't quite sit right, so I added:

_Please say sorry to Jasper for me. It could've been special, him and I._

_All my love (and please, _please_ don't be mad),_

_Alice._

The tears fell from my eyes, blurring my vision to the extent that I felt as if I was underwater. I crept up the stairs and threw my toothbrush, fresh undies and sweater into a bag. I added a can of deodorant (because even runaways shouldn't smell bad), and tiptoed quietly back down.

Jasper lifted me clear off the ground and held me for a long minute. "I'm sorry," He whispered.

"It's not your fault."

"It is. I shouldn't have subjected you to all this."

"Hey," I pulled back a little. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me,"

A ghost of a smile tugged up one corner of his mouth. "Considering the amount of things you've tripped over in your lifetime, I'd be inclined to agree."

He put me down and carefully slid the satchel strap over my shoulder. Then he took my hand, and led me back out to the car.

A _different_ car.

"Huh?"

"It's Carlisle's. If we're running you south, then – "

"Hold on, hold on. _You're_ not coming with me."

He held me still for a second, stopping me in my tracks. "_Why_?" He asked, and his voice was more deadly than I'd ever heard it (at least to me).

"Listen," I gulped. "It's not that I don't want you to come. It's just – well, James saw how you acted tonight! He's going to think you're where I am, wherever I am!"

He considered. "Edward and Bella will take you."

"Won't you need Edward?"

"Yes."

"Then why – "

He pressed a finger to lips, and I subsided. "Edward will not let Bella take you anywhere _alone_," He emphasized. "They were…I mean…they were separated – once. It perhaps gives them the strongest bond of all of us. The pain of division is almost physical for them now."

"And my parents?"

He sighed. "Esme and Rosalie will watch over them. Carlisle, Emmett and I will make up the hunting party."

I clutched at him, sudden dread filling my heart. "Promise me you'll be careful!"

He rolled his eyes, looking happier now that I was provided for. "You're the one who should be careful." But he wrapped me in a very hard embrace. I lifted my face and he bent closer, sensing what I wanted.

I kissed him fiercely and passionately. I was a kiss of fear, and of pain, and of anger. It burned as I crushed myself to him, knowing the delicate flesh of my lips would be purple and bruised tomorrow.

He didn't seem to care either. He squeezed the air from my lungs and kissed me for longer than seemed necessary, or prudent under the circumstances. When he pulled away, his golden eyes were glowing as if they were molten.

"I can't leave you like this," He muttered.

I clutched him again, but this time I buried my face in his chest, inhaling great sniffs of the Jasper smell that was unforgettable and most certainly unobtainable.

"I'll miss you," I murmured into the soft wool. He held me there for a long time.

"And I you. I feel as if – " He searched for the words. "As if part of my heart has become unattached. I think you're taking it with you."

"I'll take good care of it for you," I sniffled. "If you'll look after mine."

"I'll guard it with my life."

I looked up through my tears and grinned weakly. "So says the dead man."

He groaned. "Terrible joke, Alice."

"I know."

We stood still for another immeasurable moment.

"Alice? Jasper?"

Bella glided smoothly over to us, and I knew the time for goodbyes was up. She scooped me up in her arms.

"Jasper, I know you're upset. But could you just – try?"

He grimaced, but laid his cool fingers on my temples.

"I love you," He said. "Never forget that."

"I love you too. And don't you even think about forgetting _that_."

He smiled and kissed me once last time. Then the hands on my face seemed to stiffen and I sank into a deep sleep, untroubled for once by dreams.


	23. Valley Of The Sun

**_Dedicated to Fern, who's turning my drivel into a spanking book!  
Yes, I know this chapter is depressing and dribbly. But it made me sad just writing it, knowing what's coming...  
_

* * *

22. ****Valley Of The Sun**

Sleep offered me a few hours of relief. Besides that, I spent most of the journey sobbing into Bella's granite neck, while Edward handed back tissues from a seemingly endless supply in the glove compartment.

The windows were darkly tinted, and the purple black shade they cast might have been enough for me to sleep. Of course, I had just a few tiny things to worry about, like:

A sadistic vampire was on the hunt, trying to kill me.

My boyfriend was chasing after said sadistic vampire, trying to kill _him_.

My parents were going to kill _me_ when they found I'd left with only a note explaining my whereabouts. That and that fact that I don't even clear five foot, and the only way I could take on a mugger would be headbutting him in the groin.

My face was stiff with salt by the time we began the loop around Sky Harbor. We'd completed the cross state journey in a little under a day.

"Done?" Bella asked tentatively, after there'd been no Kleenex assembly line for approximately five minutes.

I maneuvered myself carefully upright. Cradled against her cold skin, I'd barely noticed the temperature change. The air in the car was hot and sultry, the moisture making it move sluggishly through the vents.

I sighed. Nowadays, I preferred my water where I could see it.

"Are we taking a plane?" I asked, exercising my vocal cords in a way other than bawling for the first time in about twenty four hours.

"No. But it's better to be near the airport. Just in case."

Bella pulled my head down into her cool lap, counteracting the humidity that swirled listlessly around me.

Sleep comes easily to those who wish for oblivion.

* * *

I woke to find a room that could only be in a hotel. Nowhere else in the world do you wake to an embroidered 'Phoenix's Finest' digging into your cheek.

The room was oddly cheering, however. The spread and drapes were striped irregularly in shades of green – jade, moss, olive, emerald, forest, apple, spring, hunter. It made me feel at home.

I stretched, trying to shrug off the thoughts of impending doom.

It didn't work, so I decided to go and see what the others were doing.

The room I entered was perfectly square, and carpeted in deep, deep blue. My feet sank into it as I walked.

"Something's wrong," I surmised. The atmosphere in the room wasn't tense, but it was too tranquil to be anything but farce.

"They haven't called, that's all," Edward said. _That's all_ was a massive case of BS. The look in his golden eyes was the clincher however - completely and utterly sincere.

Too sincere.

"In fact, it's probably a good sign," He continued. "It means they're too close to James to risk being overheard."

I shivered. "I wish they were a million miles away from James."

Bella was by my side in a heartbeat, pressing down on my shoulders to stop me fidgeting. "Everything's going to be okay, Alice. Please stop worrying."

"You say that's like it's possible."

* * *

Jasper had obviously reminded my babysitters of my constant need for food – meals arrived with alarming regularity. In fact, I was going to bloat if I stayed caged up for much longer.

I'm sure I burned a lot of it off, though. Sitting on the very edge of furniture, twitching, and pacing took up a good deal of my time.

We passed three days this way, and I discovered a new lease of life.

I ate. I slept. A million different processes kept my body homeostatic.

But my mind was far away, following Jasper as he hunted for James. The scene changed daily – from pack ice to dark forest to desert.

On the fourth day, Bella left to go and stock up on supplies from the gift shop downstairs. Edward stayed in the square lounge, rubbing his temples and frowning.

They'd reduced me to spying with their constant smiles and reassurances. Eavesdropping and calculation had helped me guess what was going on. He was constantly on red alert – reaching out with his mind to try and find the tenuous strands of James' thoughts.

They'd lost him.

And they hadn't told me.

I couldn't stand that they were keeping things from me when I had no choice but to trust them; did they think it would tip me over the edge? Make me do something stupid?

My moody silence in my room was shattered by the sound of my cell ringing. The sound was unfamiliar – I hadn't heard it since I left Phoenix. Did I really have ''Don't Cha' as my ringtone?

I pressed the green button with shaking fingers.

"Hello," said a soft voice. "Do I have the pleasure of speaking to Alice Brandon?"

"It depends on who's asking."

"I'll take that as a yes. You see, Alice, I have in my possession one mermaid Swatch. A blue one."

My heart froze. I was always telling her it was silly, infantile – she protested that it was cute, fun.

"It might interest you to know I also have its owner," The voice continued. "I'm sure your mother would love to come to the phone but she's a little tied up right now."

I heard a snarl. And a scream.

"You – "

"Hush now Alice, we wouldn't want to be upsetting your friends. Now, when I ask you a question, you will answer me as Mom. Is that understood?"

"Yes…Mom."

"Very good. Now, answer me this, if you value her life. Are you where I think you are?"

"I'm in Phoenix, Mom."

"And could you…evade...your friends? Do remember – your mother pays the price if I don't like the answer."

"Yes, Mom."

"Yes to what?"

"To both, Mom."

"Excellent. I will be waiting at your old dance studio. You remember it, don't you? You took ballet, tap, modern…" His voice trailed off, musing. "Such a talented child. There's even still a picture of you on the wall."

"I know, Mom."

A dry chuckle issued from the speaker. "I could get used to this. I'll see you soon…sweetie."

"Love you, Mom."

* * *

Edward was on his feet as I entered. "What was that all about?" I fought the urge to tell him to mind his own business.

"Oh," I said breezily. "Just my Mom. She worries, y'know."

The door was flung wide to admit Bella, laden down with paper bags. "You won't be needing these!" She trilled, dumping her shopping in the middle of the floor. "Jasper is coming to get you, Alice!"

Crap.


	24. Devil May Cry

**_I was crying as I wrote this. Literally - sobbing.  
I now have such a swollen head that I'd like to suggest this - dun dun DUN!  
My plan is to release the first chapter of Deep South at exactly midnight, GMT, on New Year's Eve. Whadya think? I know there's a time difference, so you'd have to look that up, but...it's like a film premiere!  
Would you guys be up for it? As many people as possible reading at the same time? Let me know!  
Oh and review. Because I'm going to miss y'all in the few weeks I take off before Deep South hits the (well, not airwaves, but you get the picture).  
Love you!  
_

* * *

23. Devil May Cry**

My first non thought in my head was to hide what was in there from Edward. So my train of thought went something like this:

_Two households, both alike in dignity,_

_In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,_

_From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,_

_Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean._

_From forth the fatal loins of these two foes_

_A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life._

And so on.

Edward's face went momentarily blank, and then he looked at me warily. He could tell I was hiding something, but if he asked what, he would be admitting that he'd been privy to my thoughts.

Which I knew anyway.

"When are we leaving?" I asked, surprised at how easy it was to inject happiness into my tone. Despite the fact that I would never see Jasper again. I would most probably be dead before his plane even touched down.

Bella grinned widely. "Half an hour. I'll pack your things – you could never get it done at human speed."

While she was tidying and packing, I locked myself in the bathroom and wrote a letter on a piece of hotel stationery.

_My dearest Jasper,_

_I am so sorry for what I am doing. For what I have to do. But James has my mother, and I'm not going to let her die for me._

_Please don't come after me. Like Edward said, it's his game. You'll just be playing by his rules if you do._

_Think of me. I will think of you for all eternity, wherever I may spend it. Know that I am and will always be yours, and that I will always be just beyond your sight._

_Remember – as long as you love, I will live._

_Always,_

_Your Alice._

A few tears fell as I slipped it into my purse, and I brushed them angrily away. Now was not the time for theatrics. I was keeping him safe. And he'd know I loved him, even at the end.

I re-entered the bedroom to find Bella whirling around my room like a small and very helpful tornado.

"We'll have to hide you for a little while, of course," She said, folding panties faster than I'd ever dreamed. "But you could go anywhere! Europe, Asia, Africa – we have some really good friends in the Amazon. Have you ever been to Brazil?"

"Nope," I said, worn out by both my pretense of cheerfulness and the choked back tears that would be my undoing.

She held me at arm's length. "Zafrina would just _love_ you, I know it. Now let's go!"

We made our way to the airport in a slightly more dignified manner than before – i.e. I wasn't sobbing over my boyfriend's sister while his brother (in law? Real brother?) handed me tissues like there was no tomorrow. Which of course for me, there wasn't.

Both Edward and Bella seemed a lot more relaxed now that I was happier. So relaxed, in fact, that I switched from Romeo and Juliet to thoughts about people I knew…avoiding, of course, any involving my mother.

Thank God for the size of Sky Harbor, that's all I have to say. The airport complex may be small compared to some, but it was perfectly adequate for my needs – escape and practical suicide.

Yay.

We sat at a cafe table, waiting. I had one eye on my Danish and the other fixed on the arrivals board.

I was all going tickety-boo with the whole escape-followed-by-suicide thing until the board flickered. Flight 22A from Vancouver (they'd chased him to Canada?) was arriving in ten minutes.

My time was up.

The vacation my sanity and sense of self preservation were enjoying had soothed my keepers so much that I was actually_ allowed_ to visit the bathroom alone. I left my purse on the table, the letter inside. They'd search it when they realized I was gone.

To be on the safe side though, I went via a bathroom, choosing one with two exits, just to make sure.

* * *

If any of the passengers or staff wondered who the girl running through the crowd with hot, salty tears flowing down her face was, they didn't say so. It was almost too easy.

I zoned out of humanity. I was a sacrificial lamb now, riding the tumbrels to Madame Guillotine.

I picked a cab driver with a wide, smiling face and a flowered shirt. Then I gave him all my money and my grandma's address, which was within safe walking distance of the studio without it being too obvious where I was going.

I had no doubt that he'd come after me. Hopefully by that time, however, there would be little of me left, and James would have gone.

Cheering thoughts.

The cab driver (who was Puerto Rican or something, and ridiculously cheerful) dropped me just outside Grandma Marie's and told me to have a nice day (possibly because I'd given him four twenties).

I couldn't look at the house. I didn't really want my last memories to be of an old brownstone. The old brownstone where someone I loved had lived.

It hit me then.

"Haven't you given me enough?" I shrieked, hurling my abuse up at the sky. "You've given me so much more than I can bear! This too?"

I didn't get an answer.

My senses seemed to be heightened as I walked. I could smell the spring in the air, felt the way it tasted on my tongue. The wind that blew my hair was caressing; gentle and soft as my mother's hand.

Mom…

Mommy…

And suddenly I was running. Because so help me she was gonna get out of there and then I was going to die, if it _killed_ me.

Which it would.

* * *

I screeched to a halt, the heels of my Converse catching the sidewalk.

The studio was old. It was crumbling. It was almost exactly as I remembered it.

There was an odd sense of déjà vu as I pushed opened the swing door. Surprisingly, I recognized the smell – leather, shoe polish, beeswax, carpet shampoo and talc.

The carpet was still orange and swirly, if a little faded. The walls were the same pale yellow I'd picked at while I was waiting to go on stage for my part of the recital. The chairs had new covers in a dull tan, but they were the same shape. In exactly the same place.

The door to Studio 1 was open.

My heart beat harder, louder, as if wanted to make the best use of its time before it stopped. The air whooshed in and out of my lungs in quick successive bursts.

I crossed the threshold.

"You came."


	25. I Caught Myself

**_I know the last two chapters have been quite intense, with a lot more focus on what's going on than on Alice herself. But this one is different. Somehow, despite the seriousness of the situation, I think you'll still find some things to laugh at. Weird, huh?  
_

* * *

24. I Caught Myself**

"Where's my mom, James?" My fists were balled at my sides, and every cell in my body tingled. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, readying me for the attack. But this was one attacker who I'd definitely lose out to.

He didn't answer, just appraised me coolly. In his pale blue sweater and blue jeans, he could have been an ordinary guy. Except he wasn't. He was sadistic.

He was cruel.

He was going to kill me.

"She's not here," He said lightly, as if the matter were of very little significance.

"Wha – "

"I surprised you fell for it, actually. As an avid moviegoer, I expected you to know a Wilhelm Scream when you heard one."

"That was not a Wilhelm Scream," I said, voice icy and palms slick. "A Wilhelm Scream sounds like a guy yelling, nothing like my middle aged mother."

"Suffice to say, it was not your mother. I just had a dinner guest."

I winced, and he smiled.

He came closer, idly brushing his hand over my cheek. I slapped it away, wincing as my little finger cracked.

In an instant he was right beside my ear. His fingers knotted into my hair and yanked my head back to almost breaking point.

"Yes," He hissed as I shrieked in pain. "It hurts, doesn't it? Trust me, this is only going to get more painful for you, and more…interesting for me."

He struck me a blow to the back of the head that had it upright in seconds, and multicolored stars shooting out from the corners of my eyes. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and he darted forward like a snake and licked one off.

I shuddered in disgust.

"You know what first drew me to you?" He said, circling me casually now.

"My amazing good looks?" I quipped.

Good, I could still quip. All was not lost.

He chuckled. "No. The way you smell is – " He paused. "Inexorably lovely."

In another lightning fast movement his nose was skimming my throat and his breath coming cold as ice on my neck.

"You smell…hmmm…like fruit somehow. Mouthwatering."

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not play with your food?" I quoted.

"Hmmm…perhaps you're right."

In less than a second, I was spinning across the floor, slamming into one of the mirrors. My breath wheezed out of my lungs and I knew I'd heard a crack.

Something black and shiny and transparent came into my blurred and wobbly line of vision. It was then that I heard the zoom.

"You sick freak," I choked.

"This is the first official blow," He commentated for the benefit of whoever would be viewing the tape. "Alice has struck the fourth mirror from the left on the room's east side. She has sustained a broken rib, I believe."

He pressed the zoom again.

"Why don't you tell him how much it hurts?" He requested softly.

"Sorry?"

His foot came down _hard_ on my arm and I screamed bloody murder as I felt the snap. The pain of it juddered up the bone shards and I convulsed, hitting my head hard against the mirror.

"Alice has one broken radius. Now tell your boyfriend how much it _hurts_!"

"Go to hell!" I yelled, blinking at the blood vessels that exploded in my eyes.

His foot came down again. Harder.

"Alice now has one crushed radius and one snapped ulna."

I began to cry, trying to curl into myself but screaming and sobbing from the pain in my destroyed arm when I did so.

"This can go on for hours, you know," He said conversationally. "It's amazing just _how much_ torture the human body can undergo without shedding even one drop of blood."

He stepped back a few paces, probably to get a better wide angle.

"Oh dear. She's suffering and you're not even here to save her. You're not a very good boyfriend, are you?" His tone was patronizing, but anything that distracted him from his hell bent sadistic mission was fine with me.

He returned to my side, bending down and gently stroking my hair before finding the tender spot at the base of my skull and pressing it with his iron clad fingers.

I roared in agony and my throat ached with the pain of every cry which tore its way through my teeth.

"You think you're so tough, don't you?" I challenged, glaring at him with everything I left in my bruised and broken body.

"Well yes, actually, I do."

"Well...try this on for size." I lifted my undamaged arm to my lips, took a deep breath, and bit down hard into the soft flesh of my wrist.

* * *

_**Please don't kill me! I'm begging you! BEGGING!**_

But as I'm so cruel, I'm going to be a little sadistic. The next chapter is being held to ransom, chained to a radiator with a combination lock. If I get lots of scrummy reviews, not saying things like 'YOU'RE DEAD' or 'I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU SON OF A MONKEY'S UNCLE!', the lock will be twirled to the precise code and the chapter will go free.  
And then? Who knows...


	26. Blood

_**I was actually crying as I wrote this. It's the last EVER 'official' chapter of True North. It's the last official one because as there was a preface, there will be an epilogue, so I won't be leaving you just yet.  
This chapter really did make me cry though. Especially the quotes and seeing how far I've come since I began all ****that way back.  
I love you guys very dearly, and I'll miss you all sooooo very much. But enough of me sobbing. I'll leave that for the epilogue.  
If you haven't seen any of Kristen Stewart's films except Twilight, go and watch In The Land of The Women RIGHT NOW. I just finished it, and the acting is absolutely stellar.  
Here you are *sob* guys! The last 'official' True North chapter...ever! Now hop over to my author page and check out my new avatar!  
**_**

* * *

25. Blood**

He wouldn't even allow me the satisfaction of being the chooser of my own destiny.

I screamed as I felt his teeth breach the skin of my thigh, tearing through both fabric and flesh to reach the pulsing artery beneath.

And the pain was unbelievable.

I yelled and shrieked and bucked and kicked but James hung on to me with a grip like steel. Every move jarred my broken bones but it was a natural urge, the ultimate survival instinct which every creature has.

Searing fire tingled up and down both legs as blood pumped relentlessly into the mouth of the hunter. It felt like someone was pushing branding irons into my flesh, only to tear the wounds open and let them bleed onto the scarred skin…

"JASPER!" I screamed. I couldn't help it. I knew it was useless. But at that moment, he was the person I wanted to see most in the world.

Then one of the high windows shattered.

A new roar electrified the air, every syllable ripping through with fury and grief in its tone to make every hair on my blood soaked body stand on end.

James was hurled off me as a streak of ice white fire hurled itself at him from on high. The screech that emanated from his mouth made my ears ring, but I was too busy to concentrate on it.

Too occupied with the fact that the blood was spraying from my destroyed leg.

James' cries broke off with a sudden snap, and Jasper was at my side.

"Leave, why don't you," I said, teeth clenched against the pain. "You're just hurting yourself."

I looked up to see that his face bore a similar expression to mine. "I'll stay. Carlisle! He's perforated her femoral artery!"

"Take off your belt!" Carlisle yelled as he ran, almost sliding on the gore that surrounded me. "Fasten it above the bite!"

Jasper pulled the leather strap out from the loops of his jeans and fastened it high on my leg. I bellowed in pain once more as the too tight tourniquet cut into my flesh.

"That's how it has to be, Alice," Carlisle informed me. The handsome, erudite doctor knelt by side in a river of red, and his beautiful, glorious son set his jaw and looked down at me with fear and pain in his eyes.

"It's a good thing he went for the artery, actually," He continued. "Any venom going in got sent straight back out again."

"Why did you do it?" Jasper asked me, stroking a thumb over my cheek.

"I thought he had my mother."

"And did he?"

"No."

"You stupid, stupid girl." He kissed my forehead in an unsullied patch.

"Hey, I'm dying here," I pointed out. "The least you could do is be polite."

He gripped my face hard, cool fingers curling to fit its contours. "Look at me."

But I wouldn't. I was too afraid of losing what I saw. Because in the movies, you know, if your femoral artery's gone then you're kinda done for.

"Alice." He turned my chin so I was looking him in the eyes, him perfect and magnificently exquisite, and me, a bloodied, bruised and battered human. Not equals whatsoever.

"You are not going to die."

"Neither are you."

He looked surprised.

"When did you…start on this?"

"Oh, while I was dead, y'know," I rambled. "It was all dark and I just thought I was gonna be dead and all and I'd never see you again and – "

My voice was cut off by his lips on mine. Soft. Gentle. Yielding. And the most human part of him.

It wasn't the most romantic place in the world, what with his father battling to stop me bleeding out and the fact that he was probably having to try really, really hard not to kill me.

I realized what I'd been so close to losing, and strings of words flowed through my head in an endless stream.

_Hve been kdnappd. Call 911, UN, or simlar_

"_If you want to see the sun, buy a travel brochure."_

"_I said it's interphase."_

"_Your eyes are a pretty color today."_

"_I'd expected something a little more…emo."_

"_Do you have to do the whole staring thing__?"_

"_Jasper's never brought a _girl_ home before."_

"_And now he's looking at you. Spending time with you. Saving you. Caring for you!"_

"_I plan on spending the rest of eternity loving you."_

"_Let's play a game."_

"_I'm with the person I love the most in the world for all eternity. How do you think I find it?"_

"_Are you suicidal?!"_

"_Take a deep breath."_

"_Why do you have to be so stupid?!"_

"_Believe me now?"_

"_Has she been too much trouble?"_

"_I have a scent?"_

"_Perfect weather for it!"_

"_No good cheating vampire.__"_

"_And the little dark one looked like she could be such fun."_

"_Terrible joke, Alice."_

"_It depends on who's asking."_

"_Haven't you given me enough?"_

"_The way you smell is…inexorably lovely."_

My heart beat.

I breathed.

We were together.

* * *

**_By the way, the Deep South midnight release has been shifted. It will now be midnight on NEW YEAR'S DAY, not Eve, as I have a party that night, and I'm sure you all do too!  
So that's midnight, GMT, on January the 1st, 2009.  
Review and look forward to the epilogue!_**


	27. Epilogue

**_My dearest, dearest fans and lovers,  
What can I say? Except during my, like, week's hiatus, I'm going to miss you all very very much!  
I am going to post another chapter of this which will be the True North Q & A. I'd prefer it if you sent me your questions via PM, and reviewed, because I'd adore some lovely long reviews right at the end, as this story closes.  
Having suffered very little success with earlier fanfics, the way True North has blossomed really has touched my heart. I've learned to love it, and its characters, as I'm sure you have. Of course, I hate it sometimes too, but that's only when Jasper or Alice (usually Alice) starts misbehaving and rewrites a perfectly good chapter the way they prefer it. Honestly!  
In short, I am nothing but grateful for the massive outpouring of support, love and fellowship which I have received from writing True North, and I hope you enjoy Deep South just as much.  
All my love,  
Bella.  
_

* * *

Epilogue**

"You could have picked a better time to take me out, you know," I remarked, trying to avoid every crack in the sidewalk that came my way while also looking flawlessly elegant in an evening dress.

Jasper flashed me a ridiculously white toothed grin. "Sorry. It's kind of a one night only thing."

We hobbled (well, I did while he held me up) to Rosalie's beautiful BMW, lent especially for whatever event it was that we were going to.

And I could have picked a better dress.

Yes, it was beautiful.

Yes, it had been in Vogue.

But when I had step-limped downstairs (my cast had not come off in time for The Event), my mother's eyes had bulged and Jasper had stepped backwards into the coffee table.

The dress was black and fell straight down to the ground, but below the bust it had large diamond cut outs, baring simply acres of pale (immaculately cleansed, moisturized, and polished) skin.

Jasper carefully lifted me into the car, and I (quite skillfully, I'd like to think) arranged my dress so no major body parts peeked out.

"Where are you taking me?" I demanded.

"You've asked me that twenty three times now."

"So?"

"Did I tell you any of the other twenty two times?"

I folded my arms and sulked while he drove at ridiculous speeds, grinning like a loon throughout.

The route was familiar, and I wondered what there could possibly be beyond school…

* * *

Junior/Senior Prom – TONIGHT

Bring a date!

Bring a friend!

Come one, come all!

* * *

"No!" I said, eyes widening when I saw the sign. "Hell no. Please, please tell me you are joking."

He grinned even wider. "Nope."

"But I've been telling everyone I wasn't coming for weeks now! It's going to look like I've been telling giant whoppers! In fact, I could do with a giant whopper right now. Take me to the nearest McDonald's!"

Jasper reached over and took my hand. "It's going to be fine, okay?"

He came closer but I turned swiftly away.

"Uh-uh," I said. "There is no way you're kissing me again, mister. Not for a _verrrry_ long time."

He laughed. "Alright. But are you coming, or do I have to carry you in front of the entire student body?"

I grudgingly allowed him to lift me out of the car, on the sole proviso that he put me down afterward.

So it was at a snail's pace that we proceeded through the car park towards the gym, where the prom was being held.

It's not that I object to proms on principle; nor do I have a problem with dancing. It's just when Tyler Crowley has been asking you to one ever since he _almost_ ran you over, and your leg is in a cast so the only dancing you can attempt is the one legged pirate kind, the odds aren't too promising.

"I said I'd be in your horror movie," I said as we entered. "Not 'Please take me to my very own personal nightmare'!"

Someone on the committee had clearly gone overboard. The room was a sort of tan-peach, and all the balloons, streamers and hangings matched.

It was like being in an old folks' home.

"I hate you," I told him.

"I know."

The older Cullens were there, of course, obviously all having fitted into Edward's Volvo. Emmett and Rosalie spun elegantly in the center of the floor, while Edward and Bella were tucked into the far corner, apparently arguing.

"What's that all about?" I wondered.

Jasper smiled. "Bella hates dancing almost as much as she hates Trig."

I winced. "Ouch."

"Would you like to take a walk?" He asked abruptly.

"Do you mean a hobble?"

"You can lean on me."

He swept me towards the back door of the gym, leading me out into the school's tiny knot garden. There was a whiff of summer almost tangible in the air, and the herbs which grew at the base of every flower bed gave the area a sweet, pungent aroma.

I sat down gratefully on a bench surrounded by flowering shrubs. "What?"

He took a seat beside me, and folded my hands between his. "I have a question to ask you."

I was puzzled. "Shoot."

"How would you…I mean, would you…oh, how can I put this?" He thought for a minute.

"Would you ever consider...becoming one of us?" He said finally.

I don't know what I was expecting. Certainly not that.

"Jasper," I said, looking at our entwined hands, paler than ever in the moonlight. "That's…um…a big step. I mean, it's like, a commitment on the scale of marriage, or something."

"And you don't want to?"

I looked up at him and became transfixed by his golden gaze. It was very hard to say no.

"No," I conceded. "But not a permanent no. Just a not now no."

"A temporary no?"

"Yes. I mean, it's not like I can imagine being without you, so that's not the issue. It's just – " I gestured about me. "I've had so little time. To do normal things. Teenage things. And if we ever broke up, or anything – and I'm not saying that we will – I'd be stuck with this irreversible change."

His face was shadowed, and I lifted the corner of his mouth with one fingertip. His answering smile was for once weak, and half formed. it looked wrong.

"It's not that I don't love you," I said. "It's just that I want to live – before I have to die."

He heaved a sigh. "I guess that's all I can ask."

"Hey. I'm still choosing you – and everything you're offering me – just…not yet. Not now. And I really, really don't want to have to explain to my mom why there's a dead bear outside the front door."

He smiled properly.

"Besides," I pointed out. "You're what, like twenty, really? I'd much rather be a little closer in age."

"Why?" He ruffled my hair. "It's not like you're going to grow anymore."

"Hey!" I slapped his hand away. "I might've spent time styling that!"

"But you didn't."

The moonlight turned the entire garden to silver and beside my faintly glowing skin, his didn't look so odd. There was no diamond, no indestructibility. It was just a girl and her boyfriend, in a beautiful garden, where even the roses looked dark and mysterious through the veil of night.

I traced a long line down his palm to where his pulse point would be.

"We will be together," I promised. "Just not yet."


	28. Q & A

* * *

**What does each story's name mean?**

Originally, Alice found out the truth about Jasper in much the same way Bella did about Edward, and that scene went something like this:

'_Jasper was a ripper. A murderer._

_A vampire._

_So why did I feel so drawn towards him? Almost as if, inexplicably, some misaligned compass had found its true north?'_

So there was the name. Even when I cut that scene the name felt…right, somehow.

The unpublished Deep South has a similar plot to New Moon – Deep South refers to how deep Alice is in her own personal hell.

It is also a nod to Charlaine Harris, the author of the Southern Vampire Chronicles, which have been adapted into HBO's True Blood. If you haven't read the books or watch the series, go and do so right now!

The unpublished East Meets West is a reference to how the human and vampire worlds will collide in unimaginable ways (tee hee hee, no spoilers).

It is also telling you that this is both Eclipse and Breaking Dawn combined into one, and I can tell you we'll be seeing some of the characters we all _love_ to hate.

**How did you get the idea for True North?**

It wasn't a gradual thought process. I was just walking to school one day when I thought _'Hey, why not do a version of Twilight with Alice in Bella's place?'_

The thought never crossed my mind _not_ to change the male lead – it would absolute heresy to put Edward and Alice together.

I found it really hard to concentrate at school that day, and when I _finally_ got home I left all my homework and got straight on writing the preface of True North.

**How come you update so often?**

If you've ever been on Stephenie Meyer's website, you'll see that when she was writing Twilight, it was as if the characters wouldn't stop talking in her head.

It was like that for me. Whatever I did, Alice would not shut up! It got really annoying, so I had to resort to typing memos out on my phone when I wasn't near a computer. I would then have to go back, write the scene around the memo, and then smooth over the join.

**If you're British, how come you write in American English?**

I wanted to stay as true to the feel of Twilight as possible, if not the plot. Alice is an American character, so it's unlikely she'd be writing in UK English.

It's been quite hard for me. Even setting the language to US on Microsoft Word means that it still accepts some British words, and I have to meticulously proofread every chapter. I still do make mistakes, though.

**Why do the characters behave so differently in True North, as appose to Twilight?**

It's often been observed that you can take the girl out of the South, but you can't take the South out of the girl.

The question has two areas – **Why aren't Jasper and Alice more like Edward and Bella?**

Because they _aren't_ Edward and Bella. One of the key things I wanted in True North was a different kind of female lead, who people could still relate to. Bella's quite a rare creature, and I wanted to make Alice much more of a teenager.

And Jasper (being Jasper) sort of compensates for whatever Alice is doing. He's trying to win a girl who's practically got napalm in her belly and is ridiculously confusing. He doesn't even have _time_ to be emo!

And – **Why are Jasper and Alice so different to Jasper and Alice in Twilight?**

Because Alice is not a vampire. She has no psychic abilities (don't worry, they're on their way!) and she's very unreceptive when Jasper tries to change her mood, unless he's trying _really_ hard.

I think Bella sums up why Alice would be absurdly happy as a vampire in True North's Chapter 11:

'_She laughed. "I'm with the person I love the most in the world for all eternity. How do you think I find it?"'_

**Why does Alice bite herself in Chapter 24?**

Firstly, because she wants the torture to end.

And secondly, have you noticed how much of the events around her Alice has a part in? She doesn't want to be told, she always wants to be able to choose.

**What's with Jasper's belt in Chapter 25?**

When an artery is severed, you're very very dead unless you can stop the bleeding.

Tying a tourniquet (i.e. cinching something really tight) above the wound will cut off the circulation, stopping the blood flow and preserving life.

***Question about events in the sequels***

I going to give you little nibbles, but nothing big you can work out.

Victoria will play a part in East Meets West in a _much_ bigger and different way to in the books.

Deep South will involve meeting the pack in a _very_ different way.

There will be a wedding.

Someone will be made into a vampire.

Alice will discover and work with her psychic ability.

Jasper and Alice will separate _twice _(once in Deep South, and once in East Meets West). Each time, it will be a different person's decision to leave.

Something Edward promised Bella in Eclipse about the wedding will come true in East Meets West. That's all I'm saying.

**Will you ever continue with Anywhere/Stregoni Benefici?**

Someday I might. But they're kind of dead at the moment. Stregoni Benefici I haven't even looked at for months, and Anywhere was written in a mad moment.

But as Garrett and Kate are one of my favourite pairings, who knows?


End file.
